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THE  A  ^MO'\/i,Q  19 ji 


BIBLE  AND  ITS  BOOKS. 


BY 


PROF.  H.  M.  HAMILL,  D.D., 

Superintendent  of  Training  Work, 
M.  E.  Church,  South. 


Nashville,  Tenn.  ;  Dallas,  Tex.  : 

Publishing  House  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South, 

BiGHAM  &  Smith,  Agents. 

1903. 


Copyright,  1903, 

BY 

H.  M.  Hamill. 


INTRODUGTORT. 

Two  methods  of  Bible  study  are  needed  by  the  busy 
people  who  teach  in  our  Sunday  schools,  each  the  com- 
plement of  the  other. 

One  method  has  in  view  a  general  knowledge  of  the 
Book,  in  the  unity  of  its  divine  truth.  This  is  the  lar- 
ger, "long-range"  vision,  without  which  one  can  never 
understand  the  great  movements  of  sacred  history, 
prophecy,  and  doctrine. 

The  other  method  aims  at  a  knowledge  of  the  several 
books  composing  the  Bible,  the  content  and  intent  of 
each,  as  related  to  the  others  and  to  the  unity  of  the 
whole.  One  who  thus  studies  the  Bible  and  its  books 
will  know  and  teach  better  any  portion  of  it. 

It  has  been  the  aim  of  the  writer  to  combine  some- 
thing of  both  methods  in  this  small  volume,  with  the  one 
purpose  of  helping  the  student  whose  time  and  equip- 
ment are  limited.  The  reader  will  note  that  the  writer 
has  followed  reverently  the  traditional  paths  of  the 
Church  in  all  mooted  biblical  questions.  Whenever  the 
masters  of  the  new  school  of  criticism  shall  agree  among 
themselves,  it  will  be  time  enough  to  consider  the  re- 
casting of  beliefs  of  many  centuries. 

H.  M.  Hamill. 

Nashville,  Tenn.,  April  1, 1903, 

(3) 


CONTENTS. 

PART  I— THE  BIBLE.  _ 

Page 

I.  Inspiration  of  the  Bible 7 

II.  Story  of  the  Bible 14 

III.  Ancient  Manuscripts  and  Versions 20 

IV.  Our  English  Bible 27 

V.  Bible  Summary 35 

PART  II.— THE  OLD  TESTAMENT  BOOKS. 

I.  The  Pentateuch 43 

n.  The  Books  of  History 51 

in.  The  Books  of  Poetry 64 

IV.  The  Greater  Prophets 72 

V.  The  Lesser  Prophets 79 

PART  III.— THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  BOOKS. 

I.  The  Gospels 98 

II.  The  Book  of  Acts 109 

III.  The  Pauline  Epistles Ill 

IV.  The  General  Epistles 130 

V.  The  Book  of  Prophecy 137 

(5) 


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Facsimile  from  Sinai  MS.,  4tli  century  A.D.    See  page  25. 
The  text  is  Lnke  xxiv.  49-53. 

(6) 


PART  L-THE  BIBLE. 


I.   INSPIRATION  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


Deflnitioii. 

Bible  Testimony. 

Mode  of  Inspiration. 

Theories  of  Inspiration. 

Orthodox. 
Plenary. 
Limited. 
Rationalistic. 


Definition. — By  "inspiration/'  as  applied  to  the 
Bible,  is  meant  a  special  and  supernatural  influ- 
ence of  God  upon  those  who  wrote  the  several  parts 
of  the  book.  In  the  passage  (2  Tim.  iii.  16),  "All 
scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God,"  the 
Greek  word  theopneustos  means  "God-breathed," 
the  breath  of  God  being  used  as  a  symbol  of  his 
power.  The  following  definition  of  inspiration  is 
given  by  a  Bible  scholar  of  eminence :  "According 
to  the  representations  of  the  Scriptures  themselves, 
inspiration  is  an  extraordinary  agency  upon  teach- 
ers while  giving  instruction,  whether  oral  or  writ- 
ten, b}^  which  they  are  taught  what  and  how  they 
should  write  or  speak."  AYhile  the  fact  of  inspira- 
tion is  commonly  held  by  all  devout  believers,  the 
method  and  measure  have  been  matters  of  wide  dif- 

(7) 


8  Tlie  Bible  and  Its  B.oo>hs. 

ference.  In  recent  years,  the  assumptions  of  the 
so-called  "higher  criticism''  have  forced  into  re- 
newed prominence  and  discussion  all  questions  re- 
lating to  the  subject.  This  discussion  affects  both 
the  fact  and  the  method  of  inspiration,  and  is 
therefore  of  vital  interest  to  students  and  teachers 
of  the  Bible. 

Bible  Testimony. — The  Bible  gives  direct  and 
conclusive  evidence  of  its  inspiration,  both  as  to 
the  fact  and  the  extent  of  it,  by  the  testimony  of 
those  who  wrote  it. 

1.  The  Hebrew  prophets  generally,  upon  begin- 
ning their  ministry,  authenticate  and  confirm  their 
messages  by  "Thus  saith  the  Lord,''  or  "The  Lord 
spake  by  me,  saying."  The  New  Testament  de- 
clares of  these  prophets  that  "God  spake  by  them." 

2.  Jesus  Christ  everywhere  spoke  of  and  quoted 
from  the  Old  Testament  as  the  word  of  God.  He 
enforced  the  divine  truth  and  authority  of  all  parts 
of  it,  and  taught  from  it  as  a  book  of  divinely  in- 
spired truth,  whether  of  historic  fact  or  religious 
doctrine.  Upon  its  foundation  he  placed  himself 
and  his  own  doctrine. 

3.  The  apostles  were  even  more  specific  in  as- 
serting the  inspiration  not  only  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, but  of  their  own  writings.  Peter  declared 
(2  Pet.  i.  21)  that  "holy  men  of  God  spake  as  they 
were  mored  bv  the  Holv  Ghost ;"  and  Paul  lays  it 


Inspiration  of  the  Bible.  9 

down  as  a  characteristic  of  "all  scripture"  (2  Tim. 
iii.  16)  that  it  "is  given  by  inspiration  of  God." 
The  recent  attempt  to  turn  this  passage  about,  and 
to  render  it  "All  divinely  inspired  scripture  is 
profitable/'  is  in  direct  violation  of  a  received  rule 
of  Greek  syntax,  and  is  opposed  by  the  common 
usage  of  the  fathers  and  by  almost  all  the  versions. 
It  would  make  the  fallible  human  critic  the  final 
arbiter  of  what  is  and  is  not  inspired. 

It  should  be  noted  also  that  the  sacred  writers 
assert  their  inspiration,  not  only  as  to  the  matter 
but  as  to  the  manner  of  inspiration,  in  such  pas- 
sages as,  "This  scripture  must  needs  have  been 
fulfilled,  which  the  Holy  Ghost  by  the  mouth  of 
David  spake"  (Acts  i.  16),  and  "Which  things 
also  we  speak,  not  in  the  words  which  man's  wis- 
dom teacheth,  but  which  the  Holy  Ghost  teacheth" 
(1  Cor.  ii.  13).  It  is  a  significant  commentary 
upon  the  doctrine  of  inspiration,  in  any  age  of  the 
Church,  that  the  nearer  one  lives  after  the  pattern 
of  the  holy  men  who  wrote  the  Bible,  the  more  de- 
voutly one  clings  to  their  view  of  Bible  inspiration. 

Mode  of  Inspiration. — As  to  the  manner  or  proc- 
esses through  which  holy  men  were  moved  upon 
to  speak  or  to  write,  the  Bible  discloses  a  variety 
of  ways.  Whatever  the  mode  of  God's  operation, 
he  made  it  plain  to  his  servants  that  the  truth  to 
be  spoken  or  written  was  from  himself.     Inspira- 


10  The  Bible  and  Its  BooTcs. 

tion  included  not  only  the  subject-matter  to  be 
written,  but  gave  direction  to  the  very  form  of  the 
writings.  Future  events,  new  doctrines,  things  not 
known  to  the  writers  by  natural  means,  were  di- 
rectly revealed.  The  pen  of  the  historian  was 
guided  immediately  by  the  Holy  Ghost  through  the 
mass  of  tradition  and  cont'emporaneous  history,  so 
that  the  truth  only  would  be  written.  The  Holy 
Spirit  restrained  from  error  in  fact  and  doctrine, 
and  the  writers  wrote  just  so  much  and  in  such  a 
manner  as  God  saw  to  be  best.  How  far  the  mind 
of  the  writer  was  active  or  passive  under  the  guid- 
ance of  the  Holy  Spirit,  we  cannot  know.  That 
memory  and  judgment  were  divinely  aided  is  plain 
from  the  promise  of  Jesus  that  the  Holy  Spirit 
should  ^T^ring  to  remembrance"  and  "guide  into  all 
truth."  To  object  that  each  writer  has  a  "style" 
of  his  own,  and  that  therefore  inspiration  did  not 
extend  to  the  forms  of  language,  is  to  ignore  the 
fact  that  God  gave  to  each  writer  by  nature  his 
"style,"  and  could  employ  these  varied  styles  as 
his  media  of  revelation.  To  further  object  that  the 
various  admitted  discrepancies  and  disagreements 
of  the  sacred  writers  preclude  the  application  of 
inspiration  to  the  language  of  the  writers  is  to  ig- 
nore the  fact  that  inspiration  is  claimed  for  the 
original  documents  only,  and  is  not  to  be  charged 
with  errors  that  have  come  through  transcription. 


Inspiration  of  the  Bible.  11 

translation,  and  revision,  the  work  of  uninspired 
custodians  of  the  Bible. 

Theories  of  Inspiration. — These  have  varied  ac- 
cording to  the  measure  of  one's  faith  in  the  super- 
naturalism  of  the  Bible.  The  "scientific  method'' 
of  Bible  study  is  responsible  for  not  a  little  of  the 
confusion  over  the  questions  of  inspiration,  inas- 
much as  its  assumption  is  that  nothing  is  to  be  as- 
sumed for  the  Bible  above  other  books,  but  that 
miracles,  inspiration,  faith  itself,  are  to  be  sub- 
jected to  purely  scientific  tests.  It  is  to  be  regret- 
ted that  even  preachers  and  teachers  of  the  Bible 
have  been  caught  by  this  bait  of  German  rational- 
ism, although  Prof.  Christlieb,  among  the 
greatest  of  Germany's  scholars,  pertinently  asked: 
"Why  do  Americans  gather  from  the  gutter  so 
much  of  the  theological  rubbish  we  Germans  throw 
away?" 

Briefly  stated,  the  current  theories  of  Bible  in- 
spiration are  as  follows : 

1.  The  "orthodox"  theory,  sometimes  called  the 
"dynamic,"  which  considers  the  Bible  to  be  in- 
spired in  such  a  sense  as  to  make  it  infallibly  cer- 
tain when  taken  in  its  legitimate  sense,  and  of  ab- 
solute authority  in  all  matters  of  faith  and  con- 
science. This  theory  recognizes  the  inspiration  of 
the  writer,  but  does  not  extend  it  to  the  form  of 


12  The  Bible  and  Its  Boolcs. 

the  writing,  or  free  the  writer  from  possibility  of 
errors  in  matters  not  of  religion. 

2.  The  "plenary"  theory,  which  holds  that  in- 
spiration had  respect  to  the  language,  and  that  the 
entire  Bible  was  so  authenticated  or  dictated  by 
the  Holy  Spirit  that  it  became  truth  without  mix- 
ture of  error,  expressed  in  such  terms  as  the  Holy 
Spirit  ruled  or  suggested.  In  so  far  as  this  theory 
is  applied  to  the  original  documents  of  the  Bible, 
it  has  been  successfully  maintained  by  some  of  the 
most  eminent  scholars  of  the  Church,  and  is  the 
only  theory  which  measures  up  to  the  claims  which 
the  writers  of  the  Bible  made  for  themselves. 

3.  The  ^^imited"  theory,  which  limits  the  in- 
spiration of  the  Bible  to  strictly  religious  truth, 
and  holds  that  the  value  of  the  religious  element 
in  the  Bible  is  not  lessened  by  errors  in  the  scien- 
tific and  miscellaneous  matters  which  accompany 
it.  This  is  the  working  theory  of  conservative 
"higher  criticism,"  the  fatal  defect  of  which  is 
that  it  gives  to  truth  of  infinite  value  a  setting  of 
error,  though  from  the  same  writer,  and  puts  the 
Bible  under  the  odium  of  being  "part  truth  and 
part  falsehood."  To  be  able  to  draw  a  line  be- 
tween what  is  and  is  not  religious  truth,  is  more 
than  the  sacred  writers  themselves  professed  ability 
to  do. 

4.  The  "rationalistic"  theory,  which  concedes  to 


Inspiration  of  the  Bible,  13 

the  Bible  a  high  order  of  poetic  or  religious  fervor ; 
but  challenges  its  miracles,  visions,  and  supernat- 
uralisms  as  myths  and  "allegories/^  Such  is  a 
theory  held  in  common  by  materialists,  skeptics, 
and  not  a  few  of  the  destructive  "higher  critics" 
who  are  preachers  and  teachers  of  the  Christian 
Church. 


II.  STORY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


Growth  of  the  Bible. 

Canon  of  Scripture. 
Old  Testament  Canon:       New  Testament  Canon: 

1.  Three  Divisions. 

2.  Ezra's  Revision. 

3.  N.  T.  Evidence. 

1.  Order  and  Time. 

2.  Disputed  Books. 

3.  Church  and  Council. 

Growth  of  the  Bible. — The  Bible  grew  slowly,  as 
a  book  of  inspired  literature.  Even  its  present  title 
was  not  given  it  until  the  fourth  century.  Hebrews 
i.  1-2  is  a  summary  of  its  growth:  "God,  who  at 
sundry  times  and  in  divers  manners  spake  in  time 
past  unto  the  fathers  by  the  prophets,  hath  in  these 
last  days  spoken  unto  us  by  his  Son."  The 
"Scriptures,"  as  termed  by  ancient  Jew  and  early 
Christian,  spread  out  over  many  centuries.  Begin- 
ning with  the  writings  of  Moses,  about  1500  B.C., 
and  closing  with  the  prophecy  of  Malachi,  the  Old 
Testament  was  more  than  a  thousand  years  in  the 
process  of  formation.  The  thirty-nine  books  com- 
posing it  were  not  given  in  an  unbroken  series. 
Thirty  or  more  writers  of  the  Old  Testament,  and 
eight  of  the  New,  very  few  of  whom  were  contem- 
poraries, wrote  at  "sundry  times,"  as  they  were 
"moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost."  The  twenty-seven 
books  of  the  New  Testament  were  written  within 
(14) 


story  of  the  Bible.  15 

the  last  sixty  years  of  tlie  first  Christian  century. 
The  Bible  therefore  was  a  growth  of  about  sixteen 
centuries,  at  the  hands  of  about ''forty  writers. 
Portions  of  it  came  by  direct  audible  revelation 
from  God,  as  in  case  of  Moses;  part  as  messages 
through  angels,  as  to  Mary;  part  as  visions,  as  to 
Daniel  and  John.  To  the  prophets  came  by  the 
Holy  Ghost  communications,  which  in  the  Old 
Testament  are  termed  "burdens,^^  sometimes  not 
understood  by  the  prophet  himself.  Some  of  the 
books  of  the  Old  Testament  were  compiled  from 
the  sacred  annals  of  the  Jewish  nation ;  all,  in  both 
Old  and  New  Testaments,  received  final  revision, 
doubtless  under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
To  the  i^ew  Testament  writers  came  special  divine 
illumination,  prompting  and  directing  their  writ- 
ings. The  Old  Testament  grew  up  about  the  his- 
toric and  religious  life  of  God's  chosen  nation,  as 
out  of  it  should  come  his  Son,  and  upon  it  should 
be  superimposed  the  Christian  Church  and  its 
Scriptures.  The  !N'ew  Testament,  in  its  record  of 
the  ministry  of  Christ  and  his  apostles,  fulfilled 
and  perfected  the  Old. 

Tlie  Canon  of  Scripture. — The  final  determina- 
tion of  what  books  should  compose  the  sacred 
canon  was  made  by  the  Jewish  and  Christian 
Churches,  respectively,  always  under  a  superin- 
tending Providence.     The  Jewish   Church,  four 


16  The  Bible  and  Its  Books. 

centuries  B.C.,  had  fixed  the  Old  Testament 
"canon/'  or  authoritative  list  of  its  inspired  books. 
The  Christian  Church,  first  by  the  testimony  of 
Christ  and  his  apostles,  a  little  later  by  the  con- 
sensus of  the  Church  of  the  first  three  centuries 
A.D.,  authenticated  the  books  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, and  added  to  the  canon,  as  of  like  inspiration 
and  authority,  the  books  of  the  New  Testament. 
Thus  the  formation  of  the  canon  began  wdth  the 
placing  of  the  five  books  of  Moses  in  the  side  of  the 
ark  (Deut.  xxxi.  26),  and  extended  to  the  third 
or  fourth  century  of  the  Christian  era. 
•  The  evidences  or  tests  upon  which  the  final  de- 
termination of  the  books  of  the  Bible  was  made  is 
worthy  of  special  consideration.  Nothing  could 
have  exceeded  the  watchfulness  of  either  Jewish 
or  Christian  Church  in  making  the  final  selection. 
Upon  every  book  of  the  Bible  was  imposed  at  least 
three  rigorous  tests:  (1)  Is  the  book  inspired  of 
God  ?  This  was  determined  by  the  claims  of  divine 
inspiration  in  the  book  itself,  and  by  the  concur- 
rent voice  of  the  body  of  devout  believers.  (2) 
Is  the  book  genuine?  Is  it  the  actual  book  iti  is 
claimed  to  be,  without  essential  defect,  corruption, 
or  interpolation  ?  This  was  determined  by  a  chain 
of  documents  outnumbering  and  outweighing  those 
in  evidence  of  any  other  ancient  books.  (3)  Is  the 
book  authentic?    Is  it  the  work  of  the  author  to 


story  of  the  Bible.  17 

whom  it  is  accredited?  This  was  determined  as 
TO  most  of  the  books  by  a  mass,  of  history  taken 
from  the  times  when  the  books  appeared.  Through 
and  over  all  this  testing  process  by  the  Church, 
every  devout  Christian  will  easily  believe  there  was 
the  directing  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  In- 
spirer  and  Custodian  of  God's  revelation  to  man. 

The  Old  Testament  Canon. — 1.  The  Old  Testa- 
ment appeared  in  three  successive  divisions:  the 
"Pentateuch/'  or  "book  of  the  law/'  which  for  cen- 
turies constituted  the  sole  canon;  "the  Prophets/' 
composed  of  such  books  as  were  written  or  com- 
piled by  the  official  Hebrew  prophets,  in  order  from 
Moses  to  Malachi,  and  consisting  of  the  historic 
and  prophetic  books  of  t;he  Old  Testament;  "the 
Psalms"  (so  termed  by  the  Jews  and  by  our  Lord), 
or  simply  the  "writings,"  consisting  of  the  five 
poetical  books,  also  Euth,  Lamentations,  and 
Esther,  together  with  the  postexilian  books  of  his- 
tory, Ezra,  [N'ehemiah,  and  Chronicles.  Students 
of  the  Bible  are  divided  in  opinion  as  to  why  some 
of  these  books  w^ere  placed  in  this  division  out  of 
their  seemingly  proper  order  of  time  and  relation. 
The  second  division  gradually  took  rank  with  the 
^^ook  of  the  law/'  as  being  divinely  inspired,  and 
its  successive  books  were  received,  deposited  in  the 
temple,  and  copied  by  the  Jewish  Church  as  a  part 
of  the  canon.  The  third  division,  which  was  the 
2 


18  The  Bible  and  Its  Boo'Jcs. 

growth  of  one  thonsand  years,  took  similar  course, 
most  of  its  books  constituting  the  ritual  of  the 
Jewish  Church. 

2.  The  final  collection,  compilation,  and  revi- 
sion of  the  Old  Testament  canon  was  the  work  of 
Ezra  and  the  "Great  Synagogue,"  in  the  fifth  cen- 
tury B.C.,  after  the  return  from  Babylon,  the  re- 
building of  cit'y  and  temple,  and  at  the  closing  of 
prophecy  under  Malachi.  The  canon  thus  fixed 
by  Ezra,  and  accepted  and  authenticated  by  our 
Lord  and  the  apostles,  and  by  the  early  Christian 
Church,  has  continued  undisturbed  to  the  pres- 
ent day.  Josephus,  the  Jewish  historian,  writing, 
near  to  the  time  of  Christ,  names  the  books  as  in 
the  canon  of  Ezra,  and  affirms  that  since  his  day 
"no  one  had  dared  to  add  to,  or  take  from,  or 
alter  anything  in  the  sacred  books." 

3.  As  has  been  remarked,  our  Lord  and  the 
apostles  freely  authenticated  and  quoted  from  most 
of  the  books  of  the  canon  as  established  by  Ezra, 
and  by  recognizing  the  three  divisions  of  the 
canon,  as  above  described,  thereby  authenticated 
each  book  of  the  entire  canon.  By  direct  quota- 
tion or  allusion,  indeed,  it  might  be  shown  that 
every  book  of  the  Old  Testament  bears  the  express 
sanction  of  our  Lord  and  the  apostles. 

The  New  Testament  Canon. — 1.  The  time,  or- 
der, and  authorship  of  the  books  of  the  New  Testa- 


Story  of  the  Bible.  19 

ment  are  known  more  clearly  than  those  of  the 
Old.  Matthew^s  Gospel  (written  probably  A.D. 
38),  followed  by  Mark's  and  Luke's,  was  the  be- 
ginning of  the  canon,  and  the  three  were  at  once 
received  as  canonical  among  the  Christian  Church- 
es. The  book  of  Acts  and  the  earlier  Epistles  of 
Paul  appeared  about  this  time,  followed  closely  by 
the  later  Epistles  of  Paul  and  others,  and  closing 
with  the  writings  of  John,  near  to  100  A.D. 

2.  The  Gospels  and  most  of  the  Epistles  at  once 
took  unchallenged  place  in  the  New  Testament 
canon;  but  for  a  time,  and  for  reasons  not  fully 
known,  the  books  of  James  and  Jude,  Second 
Peter,  Second  and  Third  John,  and  Revelation, 
though  received  as  canonical  by  a  majority  of  the 
Churches,  were  held  to  be  "disputed"  books. 

3.  Finally,  after  a  period  of  severe  testing  and 
lessening  doubts  on  the  part  of  the  various 
Churches  and  their  leaders,  the  N'ew  Testament 
canon,  as  we  now  have  it,  was  adopted.  Successive 
councils  of  the  Church  ascertained  the  mind  of  the 
Church,  and  the  complete  canon  was  ratified  by  the 
Council  of  Carthage,  A.D.  397. 


III.  ANCIEITT  MAinJSCRIPTS  AND  VERSIONS. 


Bible  Material. 
Method  of  Study. 


Mannscripts : 

Hebrew. 
Greek : 

Vatican. 

Sinaitic. 

Alexandrian. 


Tersions : 

Targums. 
Septuagint. 
Syriac. 
Vulgate. 


Bible  Material. — So  far  as  known,  there  is  in 
existence  no  original  or  autographic  copy  of  any 
book  of  the  Bible,  though  in  the  light  of  modern 
archaeological  investigation  such  a  discovery  may 
yet  be  made.  But  no  other  book  from  the  ancient 
world  at  all  compares  with  our  Bible  in  the  num- 
ber and  reliability  of  translations  and  manu- 
script copies  containing  the  original  text.  Of 
Herodoins,  for  instance,  most  ancient  and  impor- 
tant of  the  classic  historians,  whose  Greek  is  part 
of  all  our  college  curricula,  there  are  only  about  fif- 
teen manuscript  copies,  the  oldest,  in  the  Cam- 
bridge library,  dating  back  to  the  ninth  century 
A.D.  Of  Plato's  original,  there  are  even  fewer  and 
no  older  copies.  On  the  contrary,  there  are  now  in 
the  libraries  of  the  world,  accessible  to  scholars, 
and  for  many  years  past  the  subject  of  most  crit- 
*  ical  study,  more  than  one  thousand  five  hundred 
(20) 


Ancient  Manuscripts  and  Versions.  21 

ancient  manuscript  copies  of  the  Bible,  in  part  or 
whole,  ranging  back  in  date  to  the  fourth  century 
A.D.  A  few  of  these  contain  the  entire  Bible ;  by 
the  others  all  parts  of  the  Bible  are  repeatedly 
2)aralleled.  So  abundant  are  these  manuscripts, 
and  so  thoroughly  ]ias  textual  criticism  investi- 
gated them,  that  when  English  and  American 
scholarship,  after  using  the  "Authorized  Version" 
of  King  James  (1611  A.D.)  for  nearly  three  hun- 
dred years,  gave  to  the  world  tOie  recent  "Ee vised 
Version,"'  it  was  found  that  surprisingly  few 
changes  were  needed,  though  the  later  translators 
had  the  advantage  of  using  the  three  oldest  and 
greatiest  of  the  ancient  manuscripts.  Of  the 
changes  made,  many  were  to  conform  to  the 
changes  in  our  own  English  language  since  the 
days  of  King  James. 

This  mass  of  ancient  manuscripts,  if  it  could  be 
gathered  from  all  parts  of  the  world  into  one  place, 
v:ould  be  an  object  of  wonder  and  reverence  to  the 
Bible  student.  Written  most  painstakingly  and 
often  beautifulW,  upon  vellum  and  parchment, 
there  is  great  variety  in  appearance.  Some  of  the 
manuscripts  are  worn  by  time  and  use,  until  no 
longer  legible  in  portions ;  others  are  as  clear  and 
fresh  as  though  only  a  centur}?"  old.  The  smaller 
number  are  severely  plain  in  their  construction, 
and  these  are  usuallv  the  most  ancient.    Manv  are 


%,  The  Bible  and  Its  Bo&lcs. 

"illuminated"  by  fanciful  initial  letters  and  orna- 
mentations. What  are  called  the  "Uncials" — 
about  one  hundred  in  number — are  written  in 
large  capital  letters,  in  closely  crowded  lines,  with- 
out space  between  words  or  even  sentences.  This 
uncial  writing  marks  the  oldest  and  most  valu- 
able manuscripts.  A  specimen  page  from  the 
famous  "Sinaitic"  manuscript,  probably  the  old- 
est of  all,  is  given  at  the  beginning  of  this  book. 
The  greater  number  by  far  of  the  manuscripts  are 
the  "Cursives,"  written  in  a  free  running  hand, 
v/ith  more  decoration  and  embellishment  than  the 
homely  "Uncials."  These  "Cursives"  are  several 
centuries  later  in  age,  and  usually  less  accurate  in 
their  texts.     Their  number  is  about  1,500. 

Method  of  Study. — In  the  formation  and  revi- 
sion of  our  English  Bible  from  the  texts  of  these 
ancient  manuscripts,  the  translators  needed  to  fol- 
low three  lines  of  investigation : 

1.  A  study  and  comparison  of  the  manuscripts, 
allowing  usually  the  greater  value  to  those  known 
to  be  most  ancient,  for  the  reason  that  the  nearer 
in  time  the  copy  is  to  the  original,  the  fewer,  as  a 
rule,  will  be  its  inaccuracies.  The  relative  age  of 
the  manuscript  was  determined  by  the  lettering, 
uncial  or  cursive,  by  the  initial  letters,  by  the  style 
of  the  writing,  by  the  language,  and  by  the  form 
and  condition  of  the  parchment  or  vellum. 


Ancient  Manuscripts  and  Versions.         23 

3.  By  a  stndy  of  the  several  versions,  or  trans- 
lalions  from  Hebrew  or  Greek  originals  to  otlier 
languages,  and  by  comparing  the  text  of  these 
among  themselves  and  with  the  manuscripts. 

3.  By  careful  examination  of  the  writings  of  the 
Christian  fathers  of  the  first  three  centuries  A.D., 
in  Avhich  appear  such  a  mass  of  quotations,  espe- 
cially from  the  New  Testament,  thati  it  is  claimed 
that  all  of  it,  except  twelve  verses,  could  be  collated. 

It  is  a  matter  of  profound  gratitude  and  won- 
der that, notwithstanding  this  mass  of  manuscripts, 
ranging  through  many  centuries,  such  is  their  sin- 
gular agreement  upon  all  vital  matters  of  revela- 
tion that  no  important  fact  or  doctrine  of  the 
Bible  has  been  put  in  peril,  although  the  keenest 
scrutiny  of  both  devout  and  ske]Dtical  scholarship 
has  been  vigorously  applied  to  them. 

Manuscripts  and  Versions. — This  Bible  material 
will  be  better  understood  when  classified  as  fol- 
lows :  The  Old  Testament,  written  originally  in 
Hebrew,  was  used  at  the  time  of  our  Lord  in  any 
one  of  three  forms — the  Hebrew  MSS.,  either  the 
originals  or  copies:  the  "Targums,"  in  Chaldaic, 
which  began  under  Ezra,  after  the  exile,  and  were 
for  the  use  of  the  people,  who  had  generally  sub- 
stituted the  Chaldaic  language  acquired  in  exile 
for  their  mother  Hebrew;  the  Old  Testament 
versions"  or  translations,  chief  of  which  was  the 


«. 


24  The  Bible  and  Its  Bo&ks. 

"Septuagint/'  in  Greek,  which  had  become  the 
almost  -universal  medium  of  speech  and  writing 
throughout  the  Eoman  Empire. 

The  Xew  Testament,  written  in  the  Greek,  was 
also  in  three  forms :  the  Greek  MSS.,  of  which  we 
now  have,  as  already  stated,  more  than  1,500,  dat- 
ing from  the  fourth  century  A.D. ;  back  of  the  ear- 
liest of  these  MSS.,  and  filling  the  first  three  cen- 
turies, the  "versions"  of  the  New  Testament,  the 
(earliest  and  most  important  of  which  were  the 
"Syriac"  or  "Peshito,"  the  "Italic,"  "Armenian," 
"Coptic,"  and  others  of  the  second  century  and 
later;  back  of  these  versions,  or  contemporaneous 
with  them,  were  the  writings  of  the  Christian  fa- 
thers, with  their  corroborative  quotations  from  the 
Kew  Testament. 

Of  these  Old  and  :N'ew  Testament  MSS.  a.nd 
versions  now  existing,  the  more  distinguished  are 
as  follows : 

1.  The  "Hillel"  Hebrew  MS.  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament of  the  seventh  century  A.D.  Since  Je- 
rome's popular  translation  of  the  Old  Testament 
from  Hebrew  direct  to  Latin  in  the  fourth  century 
A.D.,  the  lack  of  Hebrew  MSS.  has  not  been  great- 
ly felt. 

2.  The  'Vatican"  MS.  of  the  fourth  century 
A.D.,  for  five  hundred  years  in  the  papal  library  at 


Ancient  Manuscripts  and  Versions.  26 

Rome,  the  property  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church. 

3.  The  "Sinaitic"   MS.  of  the  fourth  century 
^^'    A.D.,  now  at  Petersburg,  the  property  of  the  Greek 

Catholic  Church,  discovered  by  Dr.  Tischendorf  in 
1859,  at  St.  Catlierine's  Convent,  near  Mount  Si- 
nai. 

4.  The  "Alexandrian"  MS.  of  the  fifth  cen- 
tury A.D.,  now  in  the  British  Museum,  the  prop- 
erty of  the  Protestant  Church.  Each  of  these 
three  noble  Greek  ]MSS.  contains  nearly  the  entire 
Bible. 

1.  Of  the  "versions,''  the  "Septuagint"  Old  Tes- 
tament, translated  direct  from  the  Hebrew  to  the 
Greek,  about  285  B.C.  at  Alexandria,  was  for  cen- 
turies the  most  popular  among  Jews  and  Chris- 
tians alike,  and  was  the  text  chiefly  used  by  Christ 
and  the  apostles. 

2.  The  "Syriac,"  and  the  "Italic"  or  early  Latin, 
both  of  the  second  century  A.D.,  were  translations 
of  the  entire  Bible,  for  provincial  use,  into  the 
Syriac  and  Latin  languages. 

3.  The  greatest  of  all  the  versions  was  the  Latin 
"Vulgate"  of  the  ISTew  Testament,  translated  in 
385  A.D.  from  the  Greek  into  the  Latin  by  St. 
Jerome,  the  finest  scholar  of  his  age.  The  Old 
Testament  was  later  translated  by  him  direct  from 
the  Hebrew.     For  one  thousand  years  this  noble 


26 


The  Bible  and  Its  Booths. 


work  contin-ued  as  the  Bible  standard  and  parent 
of  all  later  versions,  strongly  influencing  Protes- 
tant scholarship  in  the  King  James  version  of  1611. 
The  following  diagram  of  the  first  ten  centuries 
of  ihe  Christian  era,  studied  in  connection  with  the 
above  text,  will  show  the  location  and  order  of  the 
sources  from  which  our  Bible  sprang.  The  letters 
below  the  line  are  the  initials  respectively  of  the 
MSS.  and  versions  cited  above: 


^^  4lh  5th  ^th  7lh  glh  9lh  IQIJ! 

i P^i         I         !        II        I        I         > 


MWKV     H 
.^^^'        1,500  Greek   Mss. 


IV.  OUR  ENGLISH  BIBLE. 


Early  England. 
Bible  Material. 
Wyclifre'sBible,1380A.D. 
Tyndale's  Bible,  1525. 
CoTerdale's  Bible,  1535. 


Cranmer's  Bible,  1539. 
(jeneva  Bible,  1560. 
Bishops'  Bible,  1568. 
AuthorizedVersion,1611. 
Revised  Version,  1886. 


Early  England. — From  the  sixth  to  the  six- 
teenth century  A.D.,  England  was  a  fitting  soil 
from  which  to  grow  the  greatest  of  all  Bibles.  Our 
bold  and  liberty-loving  Saxon  ancestry  infused 
their  spirit  of  reverence  and  independence  into  its 
first  beginnings.  The  minstrel  Caedmon  charmed 
the  farm  people  with  liis  metrical  paraphrases  of 
Bible  history;'  the  Saxon  bishops,  Aldhelm  and 
xYelfric,  translated  portions  of  the  Bible  into  the 
rude  native  tongue;  the  "learned  Bede"  compiled 
while  dying  a  Saxon  version  of  John's  Gospel; 
King  Alfred  founded  the  great  Oxford  University, 
and  gave  to  his  people  translations  of  the  Psalms 
and  the  Commandments;  William  the  Conqueror 
began  the  long  battle  of  four  centuries  in  defense 
of  the  rights  of  the  nation  against  the  aggressive 
tyrann}^  of  the  Eomish  Church.  Successive  Eng- 
lish kings  and  Church  leaders  wrestled  with,  or 
succumbed  to,^  the  popes  in  their  persistent  efforts 
to  keep  the  nation  under  intellectual  and  ecclesias- 

(27) 


28  The  Bible  and  Its  Bocfks. 

tical  subjection.  The  clergy  became  corrupt  and 
ignorant,  and  the  plain  people,  in  whose  hearts 
there  was  a  pathetic  desire  for  a  free  and  uncor- 
rnpted  Bible,  were  made  to  pay  their  money  for 
masses  and  pardons,  ''as  if  God  had  given  his  sheep 
not  to  be  pastured,  but  to  be  shorn/'  But  in  the 
hearts  of  these  people  the  spirit  of  religious  free- 
dom and  the  love  of  learning  were  steadily  rising, 
until  at  length,  in  the  fourteenth  century,  God 
raised  up  Wycliffe  to  open  the  Scriptures  and  make 
them  plain  to  their  understandings. 

Bible  Material. — Wlien  Wycliffe  began  the  first 
English  translation  of  the  entire  Bible,  his  lament 
was  that  no  such  English  version  liad  preceded 
him.  His  available  sources  from  which  to  con- 
struct an  English  Bible  were  the  fragments  of  ear- 
lier versions  already  cited,  and  the  Latin  Vulgate 
of  St.  Jerome,  greatly  corrupted  either  by  intent 
or  neglect  of  the  Romish  Church.  "The  commune 
Latyne  Bibles,"  he  replied  to  his  critics,  "have  more 
nede  to  be  corrected,  as  manie  as  I  have  seen  in  my 
life,  than  hath  the  Englishe  Bible  late  translated." 
Hebrew  and  Greek  MSS.  of  the  Bible  were  not 
available,  nor  had  Wycliffe  the  skill  to  use  them. 
The  Oxford  University  had  no  great  Hebrew  or 
Greek  scholars  to  assist  him.  Greek  learning  had 
long  been  under  papal  ban.  "If  you  study  the 
Greek,"  said  a  Eomish  prelate,  "'you  will  become  a 


Our  English  Bible.  29 

pagan;  if  yoii  study  the  Hebrew,  you  will  become  a 
Jew." 

Under  such  hard  conditions,  and  with  such  scant 
material,  did  this  brave  English  priest,  rightly 
called  the  '^morning  star  of  the  Reformation," 
enter  upon  his  lifelong  eSort  to  give  an  English 
Bible  to  the  common  people.  Here  is  his  quaint 
definition  of  a  translator  of  the  Bible :  "He  hath 
grate  nede  to  studie  well  the  sentence,  both  before 
and  after;  he  hath  also  nede  to  lyve  a  clene  life, 
be  full  devout  of  preiers,  and  have  not  his  wit  oc- 
cupied about  worldli  thynges." 

WijcUffe's  Bible,  1S80  A. 2). —Woefully  hindered 
by  lack  of  Bible  material,  deprived  of  scholarly 
help,  persecuted  to  the  end  of  his  life  by  the  Rom- 
ish Church,  Wycliffe's  Bible,  when  completed, 
forced  its  way  unaided  into  the  aifections  and  use 
of  the  people.  Despite  all  efforts  to  destroy  it, 
there  are  at  this  day  not  less  than  one  hundred  and 
fifty  copies  of  this  earliest  English  Bible.  Its  pe- 
culiarities are :  homeliness  of  style,  as  it  was  writ- 
ten expressly  for  the  common  people,  and  not  for 
the  court  or  scholars;  the  absence  of  technical 
words,  as  its  substitution  of  ^'riches"  for  "mam- 
mon;" its  intense  literalness.  Here  is  a  specimen 
of  the  book : 


30       ■  The  Bible  and  Its  Bocfks. 

fforeotbc 
tbat  tlJ^c  3oon  ba^^e  clotb  of  tbe  bcerle  of 
camei?lt0  an^  a  girMl  of  efti^n  about  ble 
IccnMe;  eotbeli?  bte  mete  wercn  locustte 
an^  bon?  of  tbe  wo&e.  'Ibanne  Jeruea^ 
lemi  >x)ente  out  to  b^m,  an^  al  3ut)e,  an&  al 
tbe  cuntre  aboute  3or^an,  an^  tbel  voeren 
cri?etene^  of  b)?m  in  3orDan,  hnowlecb^nsc 
tbere  e^nnes. 

Wycliffe  was  formally  tried  and  excommunica-  ' 
ted,  and  a  petition  was  made  to  the  pope  after  his 
death  that  his  body  be  exhumed  and  buried  in  a 
dunghill.  The  body  was  burned,  its  ashes  thrown 
into  the  little  river  Swift  that  ran  past  his  church 
at  Lutterworth,  and  the  poet  truly  sang: 

"The  Swift  unto  the  Severn  runs, 
The  Severn  to  the  sea; 
And  so  shall  Wycliffe's  dust  be  spread 
Wide  as  these  waters  be." 

TyndaU's  Bible,  1525  ^. P. —William  Tyndale, 
born  1483,  the  3^ear  after  Luther's  birth  and  one 
hundred  years  after  Wycliffe's  death,  had  in  begin- 
ning all  that  was  denied  to  Wycliffe.  He  was  mas- 
ter of  seven  languages,  including  Hebrew  and 
Greek;  he  was  distinguished  as  a  scholar  at  both 


Our  English  Bible.      •  31 

Oxford  and  Cambridge/  and  was  a  pupil  of  the 
famous  Erasmus,  greatest  Greek  scholar  of  his 
age;  he  had  the  use  of  Hebrew  and  Greek  MSS. 
He  had  more  than  these.  The  art  of  printing  had 
been  discovered  by  Gutenburg  in  li50  A.D.,  and 
was  greatly  multiplying  and  cheapening  books. 
^Vj'cliife's  Bible  had  sold  at  forty  pounds  sterling 
a  copy  ($200).  Greek  learning  had  been  revived 
in  all  the  universities  of  Europe,  until  one  has  said : 
"Greece  rose  at  this  time  from  her  grave  with  the 
^N'ew  Testament  in  her  hand."  Refused  permis- 
sion to  carry  on  his  work  of  translation  at  home, 
T^Tidale  became  an  exile,  and  printed  six  thousand 
copies  of  his  iSTew  Testament  at  Worms.  Betrayed 
by  friends,  persecuted  by  the  Church,  he  contin- 
ued in  exile,  printing  Bibles  and  shipping  them 
secretly  to  England.  Most  of  the  Old  Testament 
was  also  translated  and  printed  by  him.  After 
bitter  and  lifelong  persecution,  he  was  treacher- 
ously lured  to  England  by  an  emissary  of  the  Lom- 
ish  Church,  imprisoned,  strangled,  and  then  burned 
at  the  stake,  October  6,  1536,  pra3'ing  at  the  last : 
"Lord,  open  thou  the  eyes  of  the  king  of  En- 
gland.'^  In  the  beginning  of  his  career  he  had 
said:  "I  defy  the  pope;  and  if  God  spare  me,  I 
vrill  one  day  make  the  boy  that  drives  the  plow 
in  England  know  more  of  Scripture  than  the 
pope  himself." 


32  The  Bible  and  lis  B.o&hs. 

Coverdale's  Bible  and  Others,  1535  to  1568  A.D. 
— By  the  side  of  the  two  great  typical  Bibles, 
Wycliffe's  homely  version  for  the  common  people 
and  Tyndale's  original  and  scholarly  work,  the 
nnmeroiTS' succeeding  Bibles  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury (see  outline  at  the  beginning  of  chapter)  ap- 
pear as  inferior,  and  were  in  fact  weak  plagia- 
risms in  jDart  upon  the  strong  sense  of  Wyclitfe 
and  the  great  learning  of  Tyndale.  Taken  to- 
gether, they  prove  the  increasing  hunger  of  En- 
gland for  the  Holy  Scriptures  and  the  enduring 
power  of  the  martyred  Tyndale,  whose  blood  in- 
deed became  the  seed  of  a  freer  and  holier  Church. 
Taken  separately,  iliey  prove  the  partisanship  and 
jealousies  of  Church  factions,  and  the  fear  by  the 
hierarchy  of  the  free  spirit  of  the  English  people. 
^'Coverdale's"  was  probably  the  first  entire  Eng- 
lish-printed Bible;  "Matthew's,"  the  first  author- 
ized version ;  "Cranmer's"  bore  the  pretentious 
title  of  the  "Great  Bible ;"  the  "Geneva,"  printed 
at  Geneva  by  Eeformers,  was  the  first  distinctive- 
ly Protestant  Bible,  and  was  for  fifty  years  the 
most  popular  version  in  England;  the  "Bishops' 
Bible,"  so  named  from  the  fact  that  eight  of  its 
translators  were  bishope,was  least  of  the  list  in  pub- 
lic esteem;  the  "Rhemish  and  Douay,"  the  Catho- 
lic Bible,  was  the  effort  of  the  Romish  Church  to 
stem  the  rising  tide  of  Protestant  influence. 


Our  English  Bible.  33 

The  Authorized  Version,  1611  A.D. — For  three 
hundred  years  this  Bible  has  been  the  flower  and 
fruit  of  classic  and  English  scholarship.  "It  has 
in  it  the  lifeblood  of  kings,  scholars,  reformers, 
and  saints."  In  construction,  scholarship, 
purity  and  dignity  of  language,  it  far  surpassed 
all  predecessors;  and  it  will  doubtless  be  many 
years,  if  ever,  before  it  is  displaced  by  a  later  ver- 
sion. Under  appointment  of  King  James,  forty- 
seven  great  scholars  of  England  were  its  transla- 
tors. Among  their  rules  v/ere :  "There  shall  be  no 
change  except  the  text  require  it ;"  "manuscript 
copies  and  competent  scholarship  shall  be  consult- 
ed;" "marginal  references  shall  be  instituted;" 
"no  maro:inal  notes  shall  be  allowed ;"  "all  differ- 
ences  of  opinion  shall  be  decided  at  a  general  meet- 
ing." After  five  years  of  continuous  service, 
working  in  six  divisions,  determining  all  vexed 
questions  in  general  meeting,  the  great  version 
Avas  completed  in  1611  A.D. 

The  Revised  Version,  A.D.  1885. — Archaeolog- 
ical investigation  and  discovery;  the  bringing  to 
light  of  many  ancient  MSS.  (among  which  was 
the  Sinai  "Codex"  of  the  fourth  century)  ;  the 
changing  forms  of  our  English  language,  and  the 
increasing  number  of  obsolete  words  in  the  Au- 
thorized Version;  the  advance  of  textual  criticism 
and  of  Hebrew  and  Greek  scholarship  since  1611 
3 


34:  The  Bible  and  Its  Bo&ks. 

A.D. — all  conspired  to  bring  about  the  Eevised 
Version  of  1885.  It  was  begun  in  1870  through 
the  English  Church,  by  the  appointment  of  a  "N'ew 
Testament^'  and  an  "Old  Testament  Company'^ 
of  eminent  English  scholars,  representing  the 
greater  divisions  of  Protestantism,  and  by  a  "Cor- 
responding Committee"  of  American  scholars. 
The  first  session  of  the  English  translators  was 
held  in  June,  1870,  in  the  famous  "Jerusalem 
Chamber"  of  Westminster  Abbey,  London.  Ten 
years  later,  jSTovember  11,  1880,  in  the  church  of 
St.  Martin-in-Fields,  London,  the  JSTew  Testament 
Comj^any  closed  its  labors  with  prayer  and  thanks 
giving.  The  entire  Bible  was  com^pleted  and  given 
to  the  world  May  5,  1885.  Whether  it  will  take 
the  place  of  the  Authorized  Version,  no  one  can 
tell ;  but  in  fullness  of  learning,  clearness  of  plan, 
and  helpfulness  to  the  Bible  student  and  teacher, 
there  can  be  no  question  but  that  it  is  the  best,  as 
it  is  the  latest,  version  of  Scripture. 


V.  BIBLE  SUMMARY. 

A  brief  summary  of  the  claims  made  for  the 
Bible  by  devout  Christians,  and  of  its  historic 
changes  in  form,  will  be  found  helpful  to  its  stu- 
dents and  ceachers. 

Three  great  claims  are  made  for  the  Bible : 
(1)  Its  inspiration — it  came  from  God;  (2)  its 
genuineness — we  have  it  substantially  as  it  was 
given;  (3)  its  credibility — it  is  amply  attested  as 
the  word  of  God. 

The  Claim  of  Inspiration. 

As  to  the  Fact. — 1.  The  prophets  of  the  Old 
Testament  asserted  it  of  their  writings.  2.  Our 
Lord  repeatedly  cited  the  Old  Testament  as  in- 
spired, and  placed  his  divine  seal  upon  the  three 
great  divisions  of  the  Jewish  canon — ^t'he  Law,  the 
Prophets,  and  the  Psalms — quoting  directly  from 
eighteen  of  the  thirty-nine  books.  3.  The  apostles 
Paul  and  Peter  declared  that  the  entire  Old  Tes- 
tament was  "given  by  inspiration"  and  that  holy 
men  were  "moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost"  to  write  it. 

4.  As  to  the  Xew  Testament,  the  apostles  asserted 
its  inspiration,  and  commanded  it  to  be  read  in 
the  churches,  ranking  it  with  the  Old  Testament. 

5,  The  claim  of  inspiration  for  the  Old  Testament 

(35) 


b6  The  Bible  and  Its  Books. 

was  reverently  received  by  the  Jews,  and  of  both 
Old  and  Xew  Testaments  by  the  early  Christian 
Church. 

As  to  the  Mode. — 1.  The  orthodox,  or  "dynam- 
ic," theory — that  the  sacred  writers  were  snper- 
naturally  inspired  npon  all  subjects  of  which  they 
wrote,  but  were  left  free  as  to  their  forms  of  ex- 
pression. 2.  The  "plenary,"  or  verbal, theory — that 
even  the  words  themselves,  as  to  the  original  docu- 
ments, were  inspired.  Orthodox  opinion  is  di- 
vided between  the  two  first-named  theories  of  in- 
spiration, with  the  preponderance  in  favor  of  the 
"dynamic"  theory.  3.  The  "limited"  theory— that 
inspiration  is  restricted  to  purely  religious  truth  of 
doctrine  or  practice,  and  that  all  other  parts  are 
merely  human.  4.  The  theory  of  the  "higher 
criticism" — asserting  the  "errancy"  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  their  need  of  being  tested  and  amended 
by  modern  scientific  study.  5.  The  "rationalistic" 
theory — that  the  inspiration  of  the  Bible  is  but  a 
high  degree  of  poetic  or  religious  fervor,  consistent 
with  error  in  fact  or  doctrine. 

The  Claim  of  Genuineness. 
This  is  proved:  1.  By  the  reverence  of  copyists, 
whether   Jewish  or   Christian,   the   severest   pen- 
allies    being    denounced    against    mutilation    or 
change.    2.  By  Josephus's  ancient  catalogue  of  the 


Bible  Summary.  37 

books,  and  by  the  agreement  between  oar  o^atl  and 
the  text  of  the  two  most  ancient  Jewish  versions, 
the  Samaritan  and  the  Septnagint.  3.  By  the 
agreement  with  our  modern  text  of  the  Chaldee 
Targums  made  before  Christ,  and  the  mass  of 
direct  quotations  in  the  works  of  the  early  Chris- 
tian fathers.  4.  By  the  fact  that  in  the  nearly  two 
thousand  known  manuscripts  of  the  Bible,  some 
of  them  fifteen  hundred  years  old,  there  are  few, 
if  any,  inexplainable  disagreements,  and  only 
minor  verbal  and  OTammatical  differences.  5.  Bv 
the  weekly  public  readings  in  both  Jewish  and 
Christian  churches  for  thousands  of  years,  and  by 
the  jealousy  of  opposing  sects — Samaritan  and 
Jew,  Pharisee  and  Sadducee,  Jew  and  Christian — 
j)reventing  all  corruption  of  the  text. 

The  Clai:^!  of  Credibility. 
This  is  shown:  1.  By  its  adaptation  to  man's 
spiritual  needs,  which  demand  just  such  a  reve- 
lation from  God.  2.  By  the  undisputed  integrity 
of  the  writers,  and  their  corroboration  by  profane 
histories  and  monuments.  3.  By  the  harmony  of 
its  forty  writers,  writing  without  opportunity  for 
collusion,  between  extremes  of  sixteen  hundred- 
years.  4.  By  the  harmony  between  the  Bible  and 
iSTature,  the  "greater  and  the  lesser  lights"  of  rev- 
elation.    5.  By  fidfilled  and  fulfilling  prophecy, 


38  The  Bible  audits  BooTcs. 

and  repeated  public  miracles,  as  seals  of  its  truth. 
G.  By  its  supernatural  power  over  individual 
and  national  life,  in  government,  society,  art,  ed- 
ucation, etc.  7.  By  its  reverent  acceptance  as  the 
word  of  Almighty  God  by  all  classes  in  all  ages. 
It  is  inconceivable  that  a  book  not  divine  could 
be  thus  universally  accepted. 

The  historic  summary  of  the  Bible  is  as  follows : 

TiTE  Old  Testament. 

1.  The  Jewish  Scriptures  were  written  during 
the  fifteen  centuries  preceding  Christ. 

2.  They  were  written  mainly  in  the  Hebrew 
language. 

3.  The  originals  were  kept  by  the  priests  in  the 
temxple,  and  copied  for  public  uses. 

4.  Certain  noted  versions  or  translations  were 
made  as  follows :  (a)  The  Chaldee  translations  or 
^^Targums," f or  the  use  of  the  common  people  after 
the  captivity;  (&)  the  Samaritan,  a  Hebrew 
copy  of  the  Pentateuch  made  for  the  Samaritans, 
probably  before  Judah's  captivity;  (c)  the  Sep- 
tuagint,  a  Greek  copy  of  the  entire  Old  Testament, 
made  at  Alexandria  by  exiled  Jcavs,  285  B.C.,  and 
in  popular  use  at  the  time  of  Christ. 

The  Jewish  Canon  had  three  stages  of  growth : 
1.  The  "Law,''  or  books  of  Moses,  were  the  only 
canonical   scriptures  until  after  the  captivity  of 


Bible  Summary.  39 

Judah.  2.  "The  Prophets/'  including  twenty- 
one  books  of  history  and  prophecy,  were  compiled, 
edited,  and  made  the  second  part  of  the  sacred 
canon  by  Ezra  and  Xehemiah,  about  450  B.C.  3. 
^'The  Scriptures,"  including  the  devotional  books, 
together  with  Euth,  Lamentations,  Esther,  Ezra, 
Xehemiah,  1st  and  2d  Chronicles,  were  made  the 
ihird  division,  either  by  Ezra  or  possibly  in  part 
after  his  time. 

The  Xew  Testament. 

1.  The  Christian  Scriptures  were  written  during 
the  tirst  Christian  century,  38-96  A.D. 

2.  They  were  mainly  written  in  the  Greek. 

3.  Copies  of  the  books  were  extensively  made  by 
the  apostolic  Churches. 

4.  Xo  authentic  manuscript  earlier  than  the 
fourth  century  is  known. 

1.  The  Christian  Canon  is  traditionally  ascribed 
to  the  Apostle  John,  about  100  A.D. 

2.  The  present  canon  was  generally  received  as 
early  as  tlie  second  century. 

3.  Seven  books — Hebrews,  James,  2d  Peter,  2d 
and  3d  John,  Jude  and  Revelation — were  classed 
as  "disputed"  during  the  second  and  third  cen- 
turies. 

4.  Finally,  in  397  A.D.,  the  Council  of  Car- 
thage confirmed  the  canon  as  it  stands. 


40  The  Bible  and  Us  Books. 

Tpie  Ancient  Bible. 
The  most  noted  ancient  copies  were : 

1.  The  "Syriac"  and  the  '^Italic;'  translated 
into  the  Syrian  and  Latin  languages  near  the  be- 
ginning of  the  second  century. 

2.  The  "Vulgate,"  in  Latin,  made  by  Jerome, 
385  A.D. 

3.  The  Vatican  Codex  in  Greek,  of  the  fourth 
century  A.D.,  now  in  the  Pope's  library  at  Rome. 

4.  The  Sinai  Codex  in  Greek,  of  the  fourth  cen- 
tury, held  by  the  Greek  Church  at  St.  Petersburg. 

5.  The  Alexandrian  Codex  in  Greek,  of  the 
fifth  century,  now  in  the  British  Museum. 

Fully  two  thousand  ancient  manuscripts  are  ex- 
tant, mainly  fragmentary,  fifty  of  which  are  over 
one  thousand  years  old. 

The  Modern  Bible. 
The  five  most  noted  versions  are : 

1.  Wycliffe's  Bible,  1380  A.D.,  the  first  Bible 
in  English. 

2.  Tyndale's  Bible,  1525  A.D.,  nearly  entire,  the 
first  printed  Bible. 

3.  Coverdale's  Bible,  1535  A.D.,  the  first  entire 
printed  Bible. 

4.  The  ''Great  Bible,"  1539  A.D.,  known  as 
Cranmer's. 

5.  The  Geneva  Bible,  1560  A.D.,  made  by  Puri- 


Bihle  Summary.  41 

tan  exiles  from  England — the  first  strictly  Prot- 
estant Bible. 

6.  The  Eheims-Donay,  or  Catholic  Bible,  made 
from  the  Vulgate  in  1609,  for  the  Eoman  Catholic 
Church,  including  as  canonical  seven  books  reject- 
ed from  the  Protestant  Bible. 

7.  The  "King  James  Bible,"  or  "Authorized 
Version/'  1611  A.D. 

8.  The  "Eevised  Version/'  completed  in  1885, 
by  English  and  American  scholars. 


THE  OLD  TESTAMENT. 

I.  The  Pentateuch. 


Book. 

Writer. 

Time. 

Subject. 

Genesis. 

Exodus. 

Leviticus. 

Numbers. 

Deuteronomy. 

Moses. 

4004  B.C. 
1635  B.C. 
1490  B.C. 
1490  B.C. 
1451  B.C. 

The  Chosen  Family. 
The  Chosen  Nation. 
The  Jewish  Church. 
The  Nation  Tested. 
The  Jewish  Code. 

II.  The  Historical  Books. 


Joshua. 

Judges. 

Ruth. 

1  and  2  Samuel. 

1  and  3  Kings. 

1  and  2  Chron. 

Ezra. 

Nehemiah. 

Esther. 


Joshua. 

Samuel. 

Samuel. 
Na  than, 
Gad,  Jere- 
miah, et  al. 

Ezra. 

Nehemiah. 

Mordeeai. 


1451  B.C. 
1425  B.C. 
1322  B.C. 
1171  B.C. 
1015  B.C. 
1056  B.C. 

536  B.C. 

446  B.C. 

521  B.C. 


The  Conquest. 
The  Fifteen  Judges. 
Christ's  Ancestress. 
The  Monarchy. 

I  The  Divided  Kingdoms. 

The  Restoration. 
The  Reformation. 
The  Jew  in  Exile. 


III.  The  Poetical  Books. 


Job. 

Psalms. 

Proverbs. 

Ecclesiastes. 
Song. 


I  Moses. 

I  David  et  al. 

/  Solomon. 


1520  B.C. 
1056  B.C. 
1000  B.C. 
977  B.C. 
1014  B.C. 


Providence. 

Devotion. 

Wisdom. 

Happiness. 

Religion. 


IV.  The  Greater  Prophets. 


Isaiah. 

Jeremiah. 

Lamentations. 

Ezekiel. 

Daniel. 


Isaiah. 

>  J  eremiah. 

Ezekiel. 
Daniel. 


The  Messianic  Kingdom. 


The  Doom  of  Judah. 


760  B.C. 
629  B.C. 
588  B.C. 
595  B.C. 
607  B.C.   The  Messianic  Triumph. 


I 
i 
The  Restoration. 


V.  The  Lesser  Prophets. 


Hosea. 

1  785  B.C. 

Kingdom  of  Israel. 

Joel. 

800  B.C. 

Kingdom  of  Judah. 

Amos. 

787  B.C. 

Kingdom  of  Israel. 

Obadiah. 

587  B.C. 

Edom. 

Jonah. 

862  B.C. 

Nineveh. 

Micah. 

The 

750  B.C. 

Israel  and  Judah. 

Nahum. 

Prophets. 

713  B.C. 

Assyria. 

Habakkuk. 

626  B.C. 

Chaldea. 

Zephaniah. 

630  B.C. 

Kingdom  of  Judah. 

Haggai. 

520  B.C. 

Christ's  Coming. 

Zechariah. 

520  B.C. 

Christ's  Kingdom. 

Malachi. 

397  B.C. 

Christ's  Advent. 

Note. — The  "  time  "  quoted  above  foUowa  the  chronology  of  the  Oxford  Teachers'  Bible, 
and  much  of  it  is  conjectural.  The  year  given  in  each  cuse  marks  the  beginning  of  the 
subject-matter  of  the  book. 


(42) 


PART  II -THE  OLD  TESTAMENT  BOOKS. 


I.  THE  PENTATEUCH. 


GENESIS. 

Subject:  Chosen    Fam- 
ily. 
Writer:  Moses. 
Class:  History. 

Persons:  Adam  to  Jo- 
seph. 
Events:  Creation,  Fall, 

Chronology:    B.C.    4004 
to  1635. 

Flood,    Family    of 
Abraham. 

The  book  of  Genesis  is  the  first  and,  in  some  re- 
spects, tlie  greatest  of  the  books  of  the  Bible.  It  is 
the  book  of  beginnings :  of  the  world,  of  man,  of 
sin,  of  redemption.  It  is  the  oldest  of  all  books, 
and  the  only  aathentic  account  of  more  than  two 
thousand  years  of  the  history  of  mankind. 

Subject. — It  centers  about  the  chosen  family  of 
Abraham.  Part  of  it  narrates  the  history  before 
the  flood;  the  larger  part  begins  with  the  call  of 
Abraham,  and  ends  with  the  death  of  Joseph,  his 
great-grandson.  It  starts  with  the  story  of  the  sin- 
gle pair  in  the  garden  of  Eden;  it  centers,  later, 
about  the  family  of  ^oah ;  then  narrates  the  rise  of 
nations,  until  it  narrows  down  to  the  history  of  a 
single  chosen  family,  out  of  which  should  spring 
God's  chosen  nation. 

Writer. — Moses  ^Tote  this  and  the  succeeding 

(43) 


44  The  Bible  and  Its  B.oohs. 

books  of  the  Pentateuch.  Jew  and  Christian  alike 
have  accepted  the  declarations  of  the  Old  and  the 
New  Testament  as  to  his  authorship.  Within  a 
hundred  years  or  more,  German  rationalists,  fol- 
lowed by  American  ^^higher  critics/'  have  denied 
the  Mosaic  authorship,  and  attempted  to  make  of  it 
a  mere  compilation.  The  student  will  find  many 
references  in  the  Bible  to  the  "book  of  Moses,''  ^'the 
law,"  etc.,  and  it  is  difficult  for  a  devout  believer 
in  the  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures  to  reject  the 
Mosaic  authorship  of  the  first  five  books  of  the 
canon. 

Chronology. — The  vast  range  of  the  history  in 
Genesis,  taking  Usher's  system  of  chronology  as 
the  best  working  basis,  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  it 
is  the  only  authentic  history  of  all  that  happened 
from  the  creation,  4004  B.C.,  to  the  death  of  Jo- 
seph, 1635  B.C.,  a  period  of  two  thousand  three 
hundred  and  sixty-nine  years,  or  more  than  one- 
third  of  the  entire  world's  history  to  date. 

Persons. — First  in  order  and  prominence  are 
Adam  and  his  sons;  farther  along  the  line  is 
Enoch,  the  devout  patriarch ;  Noah,  the  righteous ; 
afterwards  appears  Abraham,  followed  by  Isaac, 
Jacob,  and  his  twelve  sons. 

Events. — Only  the  chief  events  need  to  be  com- 
mitted to  memory.  These  in  order  are :  the  crea- 
tion of  the  world  and  man  in  six  days  or  periods  of 


The  Pentateuch.  45 

time ;  the  sin  and  fall  of  Adam  and  Eve ;  the  rapid 
increase  of  mankind  and  the  growth  of  sin ;  the  de- 
struction of  the  race,  except  a  single  family,  by  the 
flood ;  after  a  long  interval,  the  call  of  Abraham  to 
be  the  father  of  the  chosen  family  and  head  of  the 
chosen  nation;  the  narrative  of  the  Abrahamic 
family  through  four  generations,  from  Abraham 
to  Joseph,  inclusive. 


EXODUS. 


Subject:     Chosen     Na- 
tion. 
Writer:  Moses. 
Class:  History. 


Chronology:  B.C.  1635 
to  1490. 

Persons:  Pharaoh,  Mo- 
ses, Aaron,  Miriam. 

Events:  Bondage, Deliv- 
erance, Tabernacle. 


Exodus,  like  Genesis,  is  historical,  taking  up 
the  story  where  Genesis  leaves  off,  with  the  death 
of  Joseph.  It  is  no  longer  a  biography  of  individ- 
uals, or  a  story  of  one  family ;  but  the  current  of 
history  widens  until  a  nation  becomes  its  theme. 

Subject. — The  book  narrates  the  origin,  gro\\i;h, 
oppression,  and  final  organization  and  deliverajice 
of  God^s  chosen  nation,  out  of  which  he  designed 
that  his  Son  should  come,  and  by  whom  the  world 
should  be  redeemed. 

Chronology. — The  time  ranges  from  the  death 
of  Joseph,  B.C.  1635,  to  the  completion  of  the  tab- 
ernacle at  Sinai,  B.C.  1490,  a  period  of  one  hun- 
dred and  forty-five  years. 


46  The  Bible  and  Its  B.o&Jcs. 

Persons. — These  include  the  Pharaohs,  succeed- 
ing the  days  of  Joseph,  especially  the  oppressor  of 
the  Hebrew  slaves;  Moses,  the  prince,  deliverer, 
and  lawgiver;  Aaron,  his  brother  and  helper;  Mir- 
iam, the  sister  of  Moses  and  Aaron. 

Events. — These  center  about  the  long  bondage 
under  Pharaoh  in  Egypt,  the  ten  great  miracles  of 
national  deliverance,  the  institution  of  the  Pass- 
over, the  exodus  into  the  Wilderness,  the  giving  of 
the  Law  at  Sinai,  the  building  and  erection  of  the 
Tabernacie,  and  organization  of  the  Jewish 
Church. 


LEVITICUS.                                     1 

Subject:    Jewish 

Church. 
Writer:  Moses. 
Class:  History. 
Chronoloery:  B.C.  1490- 

One  Month. 

Persons:    Moses    and 
Aaron. 

Events:    Institution   of 
Priesthood,   Code  of 
Priests. 

Leviticus,  though  not  strictly  historical,  is  a  close 
sequel  to  Exodus.  Its  subject-matter  is  legislative 
and  ecclesiastical,  centering  upon  the  formal  insti- 
tution of  the  Church. 

Subject. — Tlie  Jewish  Church  expresses  its 
theme.  Before  this  all  worship  had  been  crude 
and  unorganized.  The  father  was  the  priest  in 
his  own  home ;  the  altar  of  stone  or  earth,  the  sym^ 
bol  and  place  of  worship.  Now  God  organizes  his 
Church  in  the  Wilderness,  and  ordains  a  ritual  and 
place  of  national  worship. 


The  Pentateuch.  47 

Chronology. — One  month,  under  the  shadows  of 
Mount  Sinai,  is  the  scope  of  the  book,  B.C.  1490, 
the  second  year  after  the  crossing  of  the  Red  Sea. 

Persons. — Two  continue  in  prominence:  Moses, 
the  great  lawgiver  and  leader,  the  vicegerent 
of  the  theocracy ;  Aaron,  the  newly  installed  head 
of  the  Hebrew  priesthood. 

Events. — Two  notable  events  divide  the  book. 
The  first  is  the  appointment  and  consecration  of 
the  Aaronic  priesthood,  as  mediators  between  God 
and  men ;  the  second  is  the  deliverance  of  the 
priest's  code,  which  includes  most  of  the  book. 


NUMBERS. 


Subject :   The    Nation 

Tested. 
Writer:  Moses. 
Class:  History. 
Chronology:    B.C.    1490 

to  1451 


Persons:  Moses, 
Aaron,  Joshua,  Ca- 
leb. 

Events :  The  March, 
Rebellions,  Wars, 
Appointment. 


The  book  of  Numbers  resumes  the  history  of  the 
nation  It  takes  its  name  from  the  twice  number- 
ing of  the  people,  but  it  is  really  a  history  of  the 
moldings  of  a  newly  constituted  nation,  under  se- 
vere discipline,  into  permanent  form — such  a  his- 
tory of  trial  as  our  own  nation  passed  through  in 
the  years  of  the  revolutionary  struggle. 

Subject. — The  book  deals  with  God's  tests  of  the 
nation  in  the  Wilderness,  and  its  long  march  from 
Sinai  to  the  borders  of  the  Promised  Land.    Prone 


4:8  The  Bible  and  Its  B.oaks. 

to  lapse  into  the  idolatries  of  Egypt,  and  unfit  for 
permanent  national  life,  the  nation  was  kept  in  the 
hard  school  of  discipline  until  the  generation  of 
Egypt  were  dead,  and  their  children,  reared  under 
a  life  of  obedience  and  trial,  were  grown  to  man- 
hood and  womanhood. 

Chronology. — The  time  extends  from  the  erec- 
tion of  the  tabernacle,  B.C.  1490,  to  the  last  en- 
campment on  the  plains  of  Moab,  this  side  the 
Jordan,  B.C.  1451. 

Persons. — Aaron  and  Miriam  of  the  old  order 
pass  away;  Moses  continues  as  leader  and  lawgiver; 
Joshua  and  Caleb  come  into  prom^inence. 

Events. — First,  the  weary  march  of  thirty-eight 
years,  doubling  back  again  and  again  upon  its 
track;  the  sin  of  Moses  and  Aaron;  the  wars 
against  the  Amorites  and  the  Midianites;  finally, 
the  appointment  of  Levitical  cities  and  cities  of 
refup-e. 


DEUTER 

Subject :  Jewish  Code. 
Writer:  Moses. 
Class:  History. 
Chronology:  B.C.  1451- 
Two  Months. 

ONOMY. 

Persons:  Moses,  Josh- 
ua. 

Events :  Review,  Re- 
vision, Renewal, 
Death. 

Deuteronomy  is  the  last  of  the  five  great  books 
written  by  Moses.  Some  friendly  hand,  doubtless 
that  of  Joshua,  added  to  the  book  its  last  chapter, 
concerning  the  death  of  Moses. 


The  Pentateuch.  49 

Subject. — The  nation  was  soon  to  enter  the 
Promised  Land.  The  fathers  who  had  heard  the 
first  giving  of  the  law  at  Sinai  were  dead.  A  new 
generation  had  succeeded  them,  and  new  conditions 
of  permanent  national  life  awaited  them.  There- 
fore Moses  revised  the  old  Sinaitic  and  Wilderness 
laws,  adapting  them  to  fixed  residence  in  cities  tin- 
der a  stable  government;  and  the  book  becomles, 
practically,  a  revised  national  code  of  laws. 

Chronology. — The  time  covered  by  the  book  is 
about  two  months  of  the  year  B.C.  1451,  on  the  eve 
of  the  entrance  into  Canaan.  The  scene  of  the 
book  is  the  plains  of  Moab,  east  of  the  Jordan. 

Persons.' — The  last  glimpse  is  given  us  of  the  no- 
bility, wisdom,  and  last  days  of  the  great  Hebrew 
leader,  Moses;  together  with  a  view  of  his  succes- 
sor, Joshua,  in  whose  warrior  hand  God  had  placed 
the  sword  of  conquest. 

Events. — The  book  divides  into  three  parts.  It 
has  little  history,  and  is  chiefly  admonitory  and 
legislative.  Closes  assembles  the  people  and  re- 
views their  trials  and  mercies,  and  shows  God's 
goodness  to  the  nation;  next,  he  promulgates  the 
revised  national  laws;  lastly,  he  renews  the  conse- 
cration of  the  nation  to  God.  Joshua  is  divinely 
installed  as  successor  to  Moses,  and  Moses  dies  in 
sight  of  the  Promised  Land. 
4 


OLD  TESTAMENT  HISTORY. 


Each  quadrant  of  the  circle  represents  1,000  years. 


Note  to  Superintendents  and  Teachers.— The  above  circle  of  Old 
Testament  history,  together  with  other  like  illustrations  inter- 
spersed throughout  this  book,  are  to  assist  the  student  and  also  to 
suggest  material  for  brief  blackboard  or  chart  drills  of  school  or 
class. 

(50) 


II.  THE  BOOKS  OF  HISTORY. 


JOSHUA. 


Subject:  The  Conquest. 
Writer:  Joshua. 
Class:  History. 
Chronology :  From  1451 
to  1425  B.C. 


Persons :  Joshua,  Caleb, 
Eleazar. 

Events:  Conquest,  Al- 
lotment, Covenant. 


Subject. — The  book  of  Joshua  carries  forward 
the  Old  Testament  history  in  close  sequence  to  the 
Pentateuch.  The  book  introduces  Joshua  as  the 
divinely  commissioned  successor  to  Moses,  and  nar- 
rates his  conquest  of  the  Promised  Land,  and  par- 
tition of  it  among  the  tribes.  Tlie  subject  of  the 
book  may  be  summed  up  briefly  as  "the  conquest.'' 

Writer. — Joshua,  according  to  the  judgment  of 
Jews  and  Christians  generally,  wrote  the  book. 
The  Jewish  tradition  is  that  Joshua  followed  the 
example  of  Moses,  and,  under  divine  command, 
wrote  the  annals  of  his  own  times.  This  does  not 
conflict  with  the  later  tradition  that  all  the  books 
of  Old  Testament  hstory  were  revised  and  edited 
by  Ezra  the  Scribe. 

Chronology. — The  book  of  Joshua  includes 
twenty-five  years,  and  extends  from  the  death  of 
Moses  and  entrance  into  Canaan,  B.C.  1451,  to  the 
death  of  Joshua,  B.C.  1425.    The  first  seren  years 

(51) 


52  The  Bible  and  Its  Books, 

of  the  twenty-five  were  spent  in  the  subjugation  of 
Canaan  and  hostile  neighboring  nations.  After 
this,  the  work  of  conquest  proceeded,  together  with 
the  allotment  of  the  land  to  the  tribes  of  Israel. 

Persons. — The  hero  of  the  book  is  Joshua,  the 
conqueror.  The  book  deals  little  with  biography. 
Eleazar,  successor  to  Aaron,  is  the  counselor  of 
Joshua;  Caleb  wins  further  honors;  and  Othniel, 
afterwards  a  famous  judge,  is  introduced. 

Events. — The  book  falls  naturally  into  three 
parts :  the  three  campaigns  of  Joshua  in  securing 
piossession  of  the  land ;  the  allotment  of  the  land 
among  the  tribes;  the  renewal  of  the  covenant  of 
the  nation,  closing  with  Joshua's  death. 


JUDGES. 


Subject:  The  15  Judges. 
Writer:  Samuel. 
Class:  History- 
Chronologry:  From  1425 
to  1130  B.C. 


History :Josliua  to 
Sam.son, 

Persons:  Othniel,  Deb- 
orah, et  al. 

Events :  Seven  Deliver- 
ances. 


RUTH.— The  Ancestry  of  Christ. 


Subject. — The  book  of  Judges  is  a  history  of 
Israel  under  the  rule  of  its  Judges.  There  were 
fifteen  judges  from  Othniel,  the  first  holding  the 
office,  to  Samuel,  the  last.  Only  thirteen  of  the 
fifteen  judges  are  included  in  this  book,  the  ac- 
count of  Eli  and  Samuel  being  carried  over  by  the 
sacred  historian  to  the  first  book  of  Samuel.    The 


The  Books  of  History.  53 

book  exhibits  the  apostasy  of  Israel.  It  recounts 
liow  the  chosen  nation  persistently  descended  from 
the  righteous  standard  of  Joshua  to  a  condition  of 
anarch3\ 

Writer. — The  Jews  generally  ascribed  the  book 
to  Samuel,  allowing  for  certain  later  revision.  It 
bears  strong  internal  evidence  that  it  was  written 
close  to  the  time  of  its  events.  There  are  frequent 
hints  in  the  Old  Testamient  books  of  liistory  that 
faithful  records  were  kept  b)^  chosen  men,  from 
which  the  completed  history  could,  under  divine 
direction,  be  compiled. 

Chronology. — This  includes  about  three  hun- 
dred years,  ranging  from  the  death  of  Joshua, 
B.C.  1425,  to  the  death  of  Samson,  about  B.C. 
1120.  The  book  of  Judges  is  not  chronologically 
arranged,  the  last  five  chapters,  concerning  the 
destruction  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin,  belonging 
probably  to  the  oldest  portion  of  the  book. 

Persons. — The  judges  of  greater  renown  were  as 
follows :  Othniel,  deliverer  from  Mesopotamia ; 
Deborah  (with  Barak),  deliverer  from  the  Canaan- 
iies;  Gideon,  from  Midian;  Jephthah,  from  Am- 
nion; Samson,  from  Philistia. 

Events. — Seven  great  deliverances  from  op- 
pressing nations  are  narrated :  ( 1 )  From  Mesopo- 
tamia, by  Othniel;  (2)  from  Moab,  by  Ehud;  (3) 
from  Philistia,  by  Shamgar;  (4)  from  Canaanites, 


54  The  Bible  and  Its  BooJcs. 

by  Deborah  and  Barak;  (5)  from  Midian,  by  Gid- 
eon; (6)  from  Ammon,  by  Jephthah;  (7)  from 
Philistia,  by  Samson. 

•  The  Book  of  Kuth. 

In  the  ancient  Jewish  canon  this  book  was  a  part 
of  Judges.  The  time  of  the  book  is  uncertain, 
probably  near  to  the  days  of  Deborah.  Samuel  was 
believed  to  be  the  author.  Apart  from  the  beauti- 
ful portraiture  of  Ruth,  Naomi,  and  Boaz,  and  of 
ancient  home  life,  the  book  has  special  value  in 
showing  the  mingling  Jewish  and  Gentile  ancestry 
of  David  and  of  David's  "greater  Son,"  our  Lord. 


SAMUEL. 

Subject  :  The  Mon- 

Persons:   Eli,   Samuel, 

archy. 

Saul,  and  David. 

Writers:    Samuel    and 

Events :  Refor  m  a  t  i  o  n 

Others. 

under  Samuel. 

Class :  History. 

Reigns  of  Saul   and 

Chronology:  From  1171 

David. 

to  1015  B.C. 

Subject. — In  the  ancient  Jewish  canon,  the  two 
books  of  Samuel  were  one.  The  translators  of  the 
Septuagint,  B.C.  285,  first  separated  them.  The 
books  center  upon  the  Hebrew  monarchy ;  and,  be- 
ginning with  the  story  of  Eli  and  Samuel  as  an 
introduction,  narrate  the  reigns  of  Saul  and  David, 
the  first  of  the  long  line  of  Hebrew  kings. 

Writers. — Partly  in  honor  to  Samuel's  noble  life, 
which  the  opening  twelve  chapters  of  the  book  con- 


The  Books  of  History.  65 

tain,  and  partly  because  Samuel  is  accredited  with 
having  written  the  first  twenty-four  chapters,  the 
books  are  so  named.  But  the  books  of  Samuel,  of 
Kings,  and  of  Chronicles,  were  composite.  From 
the  time  of  Samuel  on,  the  prophets  in  succession 
seem  to  have  been  charged  with  keeping  the  historic 
record.  Gad,  N'athan,  and  other  prophets  down  to 
Jeremiah,  are  to  be  credited  with  the  original  an- 
nals. The  work  of  subsequent  compilation  of  all 
books  of  history  is  ascribed  by  the  Jews  to  Jer- 
emiah and  Ezra,  especially  the  latter. 

Chron,ology. — The  two  books  of  Samuel  range 
from  the  birth  of  Samuel,  B.C.  1171,  to  the  death 
of  David,  B.C.  1015,  a  period  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty-six  years ;  eighty  of  which  belong  to  the  reigns 
of  Saul  and  David,  each  forty  years. 

Persons. — Four  noted  names  comprise  the  bi- 
ographical succession :  Eli,  Samuel,  Saul,  David. 
Eli's  life  illustrates  forcibly  how  one  may  be  a  good 
man,  with  great  opportunities,  yet  ruin  his  family 
and  his  nation  by  persistent  weakne^^s.  Saul,  with 
a  brilliant  beginning  and  a  miserable  end,  shows 
the  folly  and  ruin  of  willfulness.  Samuel,  last  of 
the  judges  and  first  of  the  national  prophets,  one  of 
the  most  majestic  figures  of  the  Old  Testament, 
has  been  properly  called  the  ''^Hebrew  Aristides." 
David,   ranking  with   Abraham  and  Moses,   yet 


56  The  Bible  and  Its  Boohs. 

stained  by  one  great  sin,  shows  the  perils  of  human 
nature  in  all  ages  and  stations. 

Events. — These  may  be  summed  up  briefly,  in 
the  defeat  and  death  of  Eli,  the  reformation  un- 
der Samuel,  the  establishment  of  the  monarchy, 
and  the  reigns  of  Saul  and  David. 


KINGS. 


Subject:    The   Divided 

Kingdoms. 
Writers :  The  Prophets 

and  Jeremiah. 
Class:  History. 
Chronology:  From  1015 

to  588  B.C. 


Persons:  The  Jewish 
Kings. 

Erents  :Solomon's 
Reign  and  Temple, 
the  Divided  K  i  n  g  - 
doms,  the  Captivity. 


Subject. — The  two  books  of  Kings  were  former- 
ly one  book,  known  as  the  second  book  of  Kinars. 
The  books  give  the  records  of  Solomon,  the  last 
great  king  of  the  Hebrew  monarchy,  and  of  the 
thirty-nine  succeeding  kings  (including  one 
usurping  queen)  of  the  divided  kingdoms  of  Judah 
and  Israel. 

Writers. — Jewish  tradition  ascribed  the  com- 
pilation of  Kings  to  Jeremiah.  Three  sources 
the  compiler  names  as  follows :  the  ^^Book  of  the 
Acts  of  Solomon/'  the  "Chronicles  of  the  Kings  of 
Judah,"  the  "Chronicles  of  the  Kings  of  Israel." 

Chronology.- — The  books  begin  with  the  death  of 
David,  B.C.  1015,  and  close  with  the  captivity  of 
Judah,  B.C.  588,  a  period  of  427  years,  thus  giving 


The  Books  of  History.  57 

the  longest  and  most  eventful  period  of  Jewish  na- 
tional history. 

Persons. — The  reigns  of  forty  kings  constitute 
the  biographic  matter  of  the  books,  from  Solomon 
to  Zedekiah,  the  last  king  of  Judah.  Of  the  nine- 
teen kings  and  nine  dynasties  of  Israel,  not  one  re- 
deemed the  long  line  of  evil  riilers.  Of  the  twenty 
kings  of  Judah,  three  only  are  distinguished  for 
wise  and  righteous  reigns :  Jehoshaphat,  Hezekiali, 
and  Josiah.  These  three  reformed  the  apostate 
nation,  and  revived  its  ancient  faith  and  worship. 

Events. — The  greater  events  are:  the  reign  of 
Solomon ;  the  building  of  the  temple ;  the  division 
of  the  kingdoms;  the  wars  of  Judah  and  Israel 
against  each  other  and  neighboring  nations;  the 
captivity  of  Israel  by  the  Assyrians;  and,  finally, 
the  captivity  of  Judah,  and  the  destruction  of  Je- 
rusalem. The  kingdom  of  Israel  lasted  about  two 
hundred  and  fifty  years ;  that  of  Judah,  about  foui 
hundred  vears. 


CHRONICI.ES. 

Subject:   The  Divided 

Kingdoms. 
Writer:    The  Prophets 

and  Ezra. 
Chronology:  1056  to  536 

B.C. 

History:  David  to  Ze- 
rubbabel. 

Persons:  Kings  of  Ju- 
dah. 

Events:  Relating  to 
Judah. 

The  two  books  of  Chronicles  were  originally  one. 
The  Septiiagint  Version  gave  them  a  Greek  title, 
meaning  '^the  things  omitted."    It  was  evidently 


^S  The  Bible  and  Its  B^o^s. 

the  compiler's  purpose  to  put  into  these  books  cer- 
tain historic  facts  and  tables  which  had  been  light- 
ly touched  in  previous  sacred  histories,  or  were 
wholly  omitted.  The  books  are  not  consecutively 
historic,  but  bring  together,  at  long  range,  gene- 
alogy and  history,  both  civil  and  ecclesiastical. 
Studied  side  by  side  with  the  books  of  Samuel  and 
Kings,  the  value  of  their  supplementary  history 
will  appear. 

Sul'jed. — Tliis  may  be  summed  up  in  the  words, 
'^supplemental  history  of  the  Divided  Kingdoms, 
especially  of  Judah."  Compiled  after  the  Baby- 
lonian captivity,  a  peculiar  condition  confronted 
the  returning  Jewish  exiles.  The  temple  wor- 
ship was  to  be  reenacted,  the  priesthood  and  Le- 
vitic  officers  reassigned,  the  lands  to  be  reallotted. 
The  history  of  their  nation  needed  to  pass  in  review 
before  them,  the  exile  having  turned  their  thoughts 
toward  God  and  the  ancient  ritual  of  their  fathers. 
Hence  the  painstaking  review  of  the  genealogical 
lines  of  the  heads  of  the  nation,  both  priestly  and 
political,  particularly  along  the  line  of  Judah,  out 
of  wliich  the  "Shiloh"  of  prophecy  should  come. 

Writer.—EzTSi  was  undoubtedly  the  compiler  of 
Chronicles,  selecting  his  material  from  as  many  as 
twelve  books  of  sacred  record,  named  in  Chronicles. 

Chrono'Iogy. — The  two  books,  so  far  as  their  his- 
tory goes,  range  through  a  period  of  five  hundred 


The  Boohs  of  History.  59 

and  twenty  years,  beginning  with  the  accession  of 
David,  B.C.  1050,  to  Prince  Zernbbabel,  who  led 
the  returning  exiles  from  Babylon  to  Jerusalem, 
B.C.  536. 

Events. — These  deal  with  "things  omitted,"  rath- 
er than  with  the  regular  succession  given  in  the 
books  preceding.  The  opening  chapters  give 
genealogical  tables  from  Adam  to  Abraham,  of  the 
twelve  tribes,  of  David's  royal  line ;  and  follow  with 
the  reigns  of  David,  Solomon,  and  the  kings  of 
Judah,  ignoring  largely  the  kings  of  Israel.  Em- 
phasis is  given  to  the  temple  and  its  services,  and 
to  Judah's  reformers,  such  as  Jehoshaphat,  Joash, 
Hezekiah,  and  Josiah,  which  is  in  keeping  with  the 
special  religious  purpose  of  the  book. 


EZRA  AND  NEHEMIAH. 


Subject:  Restoration 
and  Reformation. 

Writers:  Ezra,  Nehemi- 
ali. 

Class:  History. 

Chronology:  536  to  434 
B.C. 


Persons :  Cyriis,  Zerub- 
babel,  Ezra,  Nehe- 
miah. 

Events:  Return,  Re- 
building, Reforma- 
tion. 


These  two  books  also  were  anciently  joined  in 
one.  They  are  a  close  sequel  to  Chronicles,  and 
carry  forAvard  the  Jewish  history  to  the  close  of  the 
Old  Testament  record. 

Subject. — The  books  belong  to  the  post-captiv- 
ity, and  narrate  the  restoration  and  reformation  of 


60  The  Bible  and  Its  B.oo'ks. 

the  people  of  Judali,  politically  and  religiously,  un- 
der Zerubbabel,  Ezra,  and  Nehemiah. 

Writers. — By  the  Jews  Ezra  was  accredited  as 
the  author  of  that  portion  now  called  distinctively 
the  book  of  Ezra;  and  Nehemiah,  of  the  book  of 
Nehemiah. 

Chronology. — The  books  extend  the  history  of 
the  nation  from  the  return  under  Zerubbabel  from 
Babylon,  B.C.  536,  to  the  death  of  Nehemiah, 
about  434  B.C.  They  close  the  history  of  the  Old 
Testament,  and  are  followed  by  silence  and  servi- 
tude of  more  tlian  four  hundred  years,  until  the 
advent  of  Christ  in  ISTew  Testament  history. 

Persons. — Four  names  are  prominent:  C3TUS, 
the  deliverer  from  exile ;  Zerubbabel,  the  rebuilder 
of  the  temple ;  Ezra,  the  restorer  of  tlie  law;  Nehe- 
miah, the  reformer  of  religious  and  civil  abuses. 
Zerubbabel,  prince  of  tlie  house  of  Judah,  led  the 
fort3^-two  thousand  three  hundred  and  sixty  exiles 
back  to  their  loved  country,  reestablished  the  daily 
sMcrifice,  rebuilt  the  temple  in  twenty  years,  in  the 
face  of  fierce  hostility  from  the  enemies  of  Judah. 
Ezra,  esteemed  by  Jews  as  second  only  to  Moses, 
fifty  years  later  led  a  second  band  of  exiles  to  Je- 
rusalem, restored  the  laws  and  worship  of  the  na- 
tion, and  compiled  and  revised  the  sacred  Scrip- 
tures. Nehemiah,  the  patriot  exile,  forsook  high 
place  in  the  Persian  court,  came  as  governor  to  Je- 


The  Bool's  of  History.  61 

rusalem,  and  devoted  his  energies  to  rebuilding  tiie 
walls  of  the  city  and  instituting  religious  reforms. 
Events. — These  great  event's  mark  the  histor}^  in 
the  two  books :  the  rebuilding  of  city  and  temple 
by  Prince  Zerubbabel ;  the  political  reforms  under 
Ezra;  the  religious  reforms  u«ider  Nehemiah. 


ESTHER. 

Subject :  Jew  in  Exile 
Writer:  Mordecai. 
Class :  History. 


Chronology:    521  to  495 
B.C. 


Persons:  Ahasuerus, 
Hainan,  Mordecai, 
Esther. 

Events :  Promotion, 
Plot,  Decree,  Deliv- 
erance. 


Like  the  book  of  Ruth,  this  is  a  brief  but  beau- 
tiful episode  in  the  history  of  the  Jewish  nation. 
It  belongs  near  to  the  time  of  the  Babylonian  cap- 
tivity, and  is  an  incident  of  exile  in  the  far-away 
court  of  the  greatest  of  Persian  monarchs.  After 
the  lapse  of  centuries,  devout  Jews  in  every  land 
yet  observe  its  anniversary,  called  the  "Feast  of 
Purim." 

Subject. — The  "Jew  in  exile"  aptly  defines  the 
book's  place  in  history,  as  revealing  God's  care 
over  his  suffering  people  in  time  of  exile.  The 
name  of  God  does  not  once  appear  in  the  book,  yet 
the  providence  of  God  overshadows  its  every  inci- 
dent. 

Writer. — The  book's  authorship  was  in  doubt 
among  the  Jews,  who  had  the  best  right  to  know 


62  The  Bible  and  Its  Boolcs. 

the  origin  of  their  sacred  books.    Ezra  is  thought 

b}^  some  to  have  written  it ;  but  the  better  opinion, 
in  view  of  his  intimate  relationship  to  the  book's 
history,  is  that  Mordecai  was  its  author. 

Chronology. — This  too  is  in  doubt,  the  only  cer- 
tain thing  known  being  its  relation  to  the  years  of 
exile.  Ahasuerus,  the  king,  is  thought  to  have 
been  Xerxes,  and  the  time  prior  to  the  invasion  of 
Greece. 

Persons. — Four  persons  are  prominent:  Ahas- 
uerus,  the  typical  Oriental  monarch,  luxurious, 
hasty,  yet  with  a  strong  sense  of  kingly  justice; 
Haman,  the  crafty  prime  minister,  full  of  hatred 
to  one  who  refused,  for  conscience's  sake,  to  bow 
down  before  him;  Mordecai,  the  Jew  in  exile,  the 
man  of  God,  and  lover  of  his  exiled  nation ;  Esther, 
the  beautiful  queen,  divinely  lifted  to  the  highest 
place  of  honor,  to  become  God's  chosen  instrument 
of  deliverance. 

Events. — The  book  centers  upon  four  scenes: 
The  royal  banquet  and  elevation  of  Esther  to  the 
queenship ;  the  plot  of  Haman  against  the  Jewish 
people;  the  disclosure  of  Esther  and  death  of 
ITaman ;  the  counter  decree  and  deliverance  of  the 
Jews. 


THE  JEWISH  KINGS. 


The  above  is  designed  to  exhibit,  within  periods  of  one  century 
each,  the  succession  of  the  Jewish  Kings  of  the  Divided  Kingdoms, 
with  the  length  of  each  reign.  Judah's  Kings  are  expressed  in 
capital  letters. 

(63) 


III.   THE  BOOKS  OF  POETRY. 


JOB. 


Sal)ieet:  Special  Provi- 
dence. 

Writer:  Moses. 

Class:  Poetry. 

Chronology:  Patriar- 
cha].  About  1530  B.C. 


Persons:  Jehovah,  Sa- 
tan, Job,  Friends, 
Elihu. 

Events :  Introduction, 
Controversy,  Acquit- 
tal, Restoration. 


The  atmosphere  of  the  patriarchal  age  is  about 
one  who  comes  to  the  study  of  this  great  book,  the 
noblest  of  the  epics,  the  one  divinely  inspired.  It 
has  real  history  as  its  basis.  See  Ezekiel  xiv.  14; 
James  v.  11.  To  Jews  and  to  Christians  it  reveals 
the  beauty  of  religion — constant  in  spirit,  chan- 
ging only  in  form — in  the  far-away  mists  of  the 
world's  early  morning. 

Subject. — The  book  sets  forth  a  devout  soul 
struggling  over  the  hardest  of  human  problems — 
why  the  good  should  be  called  to  suffer.  It  teaches 
immortality;  it  reveals  the  needed  discipline  of 
sorrow.  But  its  central  theme,  about  which  its 
teachings  all  revolve,  is  the  doctrine  of  God's  spe- 
cial providence,  as  wrought  out  through  Joy  or 
sorrow,  wealth  or  poverty,  in  every  devout  life. 

Writer. — Opinions  vary  widely.  Some  hold  that 
Job  wrote  it ;  others  accredit  its  authorship  to  Solo- 
mon, Ezra,  or  to  a  post-exilian  writer.  The  Jews 
(64) 


The  Boohs  of  Poetry.  65 

assigned  it  to  Moses,  holding  that  he  rewrote  it 
from  the  original,  which  came  from  Job,  and  put 
it  in  its  present  form. 

Chronology. — No  one  knows.  The  Oxford 
Teachers'  Bible  dates  the  history  in  the  book  at 
B.C.  1520.  The  setting,  language,  history,  and  re- 
ligion of  the  book  belong  to  the  patriarchal  age. 
The  father  is  priest  over  his  house.  There  is  no 
hint  of  later  Jewish  history  or  worship,  which  is 
inexplainable  if  the  book  was  written  after  the 
time  of  Moses. 

Persons. — Satan,  Job,  the  three  friends,  Elihu, 
the  mediator,  and  Jehovah,  are  the  dramatis  per- 
sonam. Satan  is  a  personal  devil,  real,  powerful, 
malignant.  Eliphaz,  Bildad,  and  Zophar  are 
skilled  in  human  philosophy,  and  full  of  "wise 
saws  and  instances,"  but  mistaken  judges  of  di- 
vine problems.  Elihu  is  the  true  interpreter  of 
Providence.  There  is  nothing  grander  in  the  Bible 
t.han  the  sublime  picture  of  Jehovah  which  the 
book  presents. 

Events. — The  movement  is  in  four  parts:  (1) 
The  introduction  (in  prose),  recounting  Job's 
prosperity,  followed  by  his  dire  affliction;  (2)  the 
controversy — a  series  of  speeches,  three  in  number, 
alternating  between  Job's  friends  and  himself ;  ( 3 ) 
the  acquittal,  containing  the  mediatory  speech  of 
5 


6Q  The  Bible  and  Its  Books. 

Elihii  and  the  address  of  Jehovah;  (4)  the  resto- 
ration of  Job,  and  his  latter  end  (in  prose). 


PSAL-MS, 


Subject:  Devotion. 
Writers:  David  et  al. 
Class:  Poetry. 
Chronology:  1500  to  500 
B.C. 


Dirisions:  In  5  parts. 

Compilers:  David,  Sol- 
omon, Hezekiah, 
Ezra. 


Subject. — The  book  of  Psalms  is  the  one  great 
manual  of  devotion  for  Jew  and  Christian  alike. 
It  is  a  collection  of  religious  poems,  from  the  ex- 
periences of  inspired  writers,  and  specially  designed 
for  the  Jewish  temple  worship.  But  so  wide  is 
their  range,  so  truly  adapted  to  every  age,  condi- 
tion, and  clime,  so  expressive  of  every  phase  of  re- 
ligious life,  that  the  book  of  Psalms  is  read  and 
sung  the  world  over,  and  enters  more  largely  into 
the  ritual  of  the  Church  and  the  worship  of  the 
family  than  any  other  part  of  the  Bible,  not  even 
excepting  the  Gospels.  In  the  temple  service,  at 
the  daily  hours  of  sacrifice,  and  at  the  feasts  and 
festivities,  the  Psalms  were  sung  by  the  great 
Levite  choir,  to  the  music  of  many  instruments. 

Writers. — David  did  more  than  all  others  to  de- 
velop the  musical  life  of  the  nation,  and  to  put  it 
to  the  noblest  religious  and  patriotic  uses.  But 
David  was  only  the  chief,  not  the  exclusive,  writer 
of  the  Psalms.    Out  of  the  one  hundred  and  fifty, 


Tlie  BooTcs  of  Poetry.  67 

he  probably  wrote  eighty,  with  a  score  or  more 
partly  accredited  to  him.  David's  chief  musician 
and  choristers,  with  Solomon,  Moses,  Hezekiah, 
and  others,  were  doubtless  in  part  composers.  The 
ascriptions  or  titles  of  the  Psalms  are  of  question- 
able origin. 

Chronology. — -The  book  of  Psalms  ranges 
through  the  entire  life  of  the  nation,  from  the  con- 
quest to  the  captivity.  Moses  doubtless  wrote  the 
ninetieth  Psalm.  Some  of  the  Psalms  are  known 
to  have  been  com.posed  during  and  after  the  cap- 
tivity of  Judah;  so  that  they  may  be  said  to  extend 
from  B.C.  1500  to  B.C.  500,  a  period  of  one  thou- 
sand years,  though  usually  assigned  to  the  reign  of 
David,  which  began  1056  B.C. 

Divisions  and  Compilers. — The  book  is  in  five 
distinct  parts.  David,  as  founder  of  Hebrew 
psalmody,  first  introduced  it  into  public  worship; 
his  successors,  Solomon,  Hezekiah,  and  Ezra,  are 
believed  to  have  compiled  the  Psalms,  and  ar- 
ranged them  in  order  in  five  collections,  as  follows : 
First  collection,  Psalms  i.-xli.,  all  of  David;  sec- 
ond collection.  Psalms  xlii.-Ixxii.,  compiled  prob- 
ably by  Solomon  from  compositions  of  David  and 
others;  third  collection.  Psalms  Ixxiii.-lxxxix., 
compiled  by  Hezekiah;  fourth  collection.  Psalms 
xc.-cvi.,  compiled  in  Josiah's  time ;  fifth  collection, 


68  The  Bible  and  Its  B.oaks. 

Psalms  cvii.-cL,  compiled  by  Ezr^  during  and  after 
the  captivity. 


Subject:  Wisdom. 
Writers:  Solomon  et  al. 
Class:  Poetry. 
Chronology:  1000  to  500 
B.C. 


PROVERBS. 

Dirisions:  In  5  Parts. 
Compilers:  Hezekiah, 
Agur,  Lemuel,  Ezra. 


Subject. — This  book  is  a  fitting  companion  to 
Psalms.  As  that  book  is  a  manual  of  devotion  for 
the  inner  life,  so  is  Proverbs  a  manual  of  wisdom 
for  the  outer  life.  It  is  eminently  the  "book  of 
wisdom/^  and  its  maxims  are  beyond  those  of  mere 
human  production.  The  essence  of  all  worldly 
wisdom  is  selfishness;  the  essence  of  the  proverbs 
of  Solom,on  is  righteousness.  The  Proverbs  of 
Solomon  apply  as  aptly  to  our  complex  modern  life 
as  they  did  to  the  cruder  conditions  of  ancient  civ- 
ilization, which  is  an  evidence  of  their  divine  in- 
spiration. They  recognize  God  in  every  event,  and 
the  "fear  of  the  Lord"  is  the  keynote  of  the  book. 

Writers. — The  first  verse  of  the  book  names  as 
author  Solomon,  the  King;  but  as  the  book  of 
Psalms  is  named  after  David,  the  chief  contribu- 
tor, so  it  is  with  Proverbs.  Solomon,  perhaps, 
wrote  more  than  all  others  whose  proverbs  enter 
into  the  book.  Of  the  thirty-one  chapters  compos- 
ing the  book,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  twenty-four  are 
the  work  of  Solomon.     King  Hezekiah  enlarged 


TheBools  of  Poetry.  69 

the  collection  in  his  day,  from  what  sources  is  not 
known.  The  words  of  Agur  and  Lemuel  form  the 
thirtieth  and  part  of  the  thirty-first  chapters.  It 
was  a  Jewish  tradition  that  the  book  was  further 
-enlarged  by  Ezra  the  Scribe. 

Chronology. — Solomon  came  to  the  throne  B.C. 
1015,  and  died  B.C.  975.  Taking  the  above  tradi- 
tion  at  what  it  may  be  worth,  the  book  of  Proverbs, 
compiled  in  part  at  the  beginning  by  Solomon,  was 
not  completed  until  the  time  of  Ezra,  about  five 
hundred  3'ears  later. 

Divisions  and  Compilers. — The  book  is  plainly  a 
growth,  in  at  least  five  parts  or  stages.  The  first 
nine  chapters  differ  from  all  the  others.  They 
consist  of  several  compositions  in  parallel  or  an- 
tithetic sentences,  together  personifying  "wisdom." 
From  the  tenth  to  the  twenty-fourth  chapters,  in- 
elusive,  is  the  second  division — containing  short 
sayings,  without  an  apparent  connection  of  thought 
or  subject,  written  by  Solomon.  From  the  twenty- 
fifth  to  the  twenty-ninth  chapter  are  selections 
made  by  'Hhe  men  of  Hezekiah,"  after  the  lapse  of 
two  hundred  and  fifty  years,  forming  a  third  divi- 
sion, "The  words  of  Asrur,"  and  the  "words  of 
King  LemueV  form  the  concluding  divisions. 


70  The  Bible  and  Its  Books. 


ECCI.ESIASTES. 


Subject:  Happiness. 
Writer:  Solomon. 
Class:  Poetry. 


Chronology:   1015  to  975 

B.C. 
Divisions:  In  4  Parts. 


SOLOMON'S  SONG.— The  Beauty  of  Religion. 


The  book  of  Ecclesiastes  is  another  exposition  of 
inspired  wisdom.  Some  have  found  it  perplexing 
and  contradictory,  and  upon  a  lower  level  than 
other  Old  Testament  books ;  but  the  trouble  is  rath- 
er with  the  critics  than  with  the  book.  The  his- 
torical setting  and  plan  of  the  book  being  consid- 
ered, its  place  and  purpose  will  be  plain. 

Subject. — The  book  has  for  its  subject  the  prob- 
lem of  human  happiness — what  it  is,  whence  it 
comes.  Every  supposed  source  of  happiness  is  in 
turn  considered — wealth,  learning,  pleasure,  etc. 
The  experiences  of  the  author  are  rehearsed,  his 
judgment  is  summed  up  in  the  oft-recurring  words 
"vanity  of  vanities,"  and  he  brings  us  at  last  to  the 
one  solution  of  the  problem :  "Let  us  hear  the  con- 
clusion of  the  whole  matter:  Fear  God,  and  keep 
his  commandments :  for  ihis  is  the  whole  duty  of 
man." 

Writer. — The  book  names  as  its  author  Solomon, 
"the  son  of  David,  King  of  Jerusalem."  There  is 
no  warrant,  in  the  book  or  out  of  it,  for  supposing 
that  any  one  else  had  part  in  its  authorship,  or  that 
the  book  belongs  to  a  time  later  than  Solomon's. 


The  Boohs  of  Poetry.  71 

It  is  safe  to  follow  the  opinion  that  the  book  was 
written  by  Solomon  late  in  life,  after  his  backslid- 
ing and  restoration. 

Chronology. — The  time  can  be  conjectured  only. 
It  was  probably  written  near  to  the  close  of  Solo- 
mon's reign,  which  w^as  from  1015  to  975  B.C. 

Divisions. — The  prologue  states  the  problem. 
After  this  come  four  parts,  as  follows :  The  vanity 
of  worldly  pleasure  (chapters  ii.,  iii.) ;  of  wealth 
and  power  (chapters  iv.-vi.)  ;  of  mere  knowledge 
(chapters  vii.-xi.)  ;  the  value  of  religion  (chap- 
ter xii. ) . 

Solomon's  Song. 

This  is  the  one  remjaining  song  of  the  many  ac- 
credited to  Solomon  in  1  Kings  iv.  32.  It  was  part 
of  the  ancient  Hebrew  canon,  but  its  place  in  the 
Christian  canon  has  sometimes  been  challenged. 
It  is  a  single  long  poem,  with  two  interlocutory 
speakers.  What  its  true  subject  or  purpose  is  finds 
many  opinions.  Some  of  the  critics  deal  with  it 
as  an  allegory,  representing  the  union  of  Christ 
and  his  Church ;  others,  as  presenting  in  fervid 
oriental  imagery  the  beauty  of  religion. 


IV.  THE  GREATEE  PROPHETS. 


ISAIAH. 


Subject:     Messianic 

Kingdom. 
Writer:  Isaiah. 
Class:  Prophecy. 


Chronology:  760  to  698 
B.C. 

Prophecies:  Syria,  Ten 
Tribes,  Tyre,  Nine- 
veh, Babylon,  Christ. 


Subject. — First,  Judah  and  her  enemies.  Isaiah 
came  in  the  "Indian  summer^^  of  Judah,  serving 
four  of  her  kings.  The  j)eople  had  grown  rich  and 
luxurious,  caring  little  for  the  temple  and  its  wor- 
ship. Hezekiah  was  one  of  the  few  good  kings. 
Together  with  the  prophet,  he  turned  the  nation 
back  from  its  corruptions.  The  kingdom  of  Israel 
was  on  the  verge  of  destruction,  which  came  to  pass 
while  Isaiah  was  serving  Judah.  Assyria,  Eg3'^pt, 
Bab3don,  Tyre,  and  Damascus,. enemies  of  Judah, 
were  in  turn  denounced  by  the  prophet,  and  their 
doom  foretold.  Second,  the  Messianic  kingdom, 
chapters  xl.-lxvi.,  in  which  Isaiah  vividly  draws 
upon  the  canvas  of  the  future  the  advent,  person- 
ality, and  kingdom  of  Christ.  So  full  and  lofty, 
yet  so  accurat-e  in  detail,  are  these  prophecies,  that 
the  other  wonderful  visions  of  Isaiah  suffer  in  com- 
parison. The  entire  book  might  properly  be  called 
a  representation  of  the  Messianic  kingdom. 
(72) 


The  Greater  Prophets.  73 

Writer. — Isaiah  was  the  greatest  of  the  Hebrew 
prophets.  He  was  fifth  in  order  of  time.  He  lived 
in  Jerusalem,  and  served  Judah  especially.  He 
prophesied  under  four  kings — a  period  of  sixty 
years.  His  contemporaries  in  prophecy  were 
Amos,  Hosea,  and  Micah,  He  died  during  the 
reign  of  Manasseh,  aged  ninety  years.  He  was 
probably  of  royal  blood. 

Chronology. — Isaiah  began  to  prophesy  in  the 
eighth  century  B.C.  (about  760),  and  died  prob- 
ably 698  B.C.  He  was  contemporary  with  three 
great  rulers  of  Assyria :  Pul,  Sargon,  Sennacherib. 
Eomulus  -was  building  Rome  during  the  life  of  the 
prophet. 

Prophecies. — Isaiah's  greater  prophecies  were  as 
follows :  the  destruction  of  Syria,  fulfilled  by  Pul ; 
the  captivity  of  the  ten  tribes,  by  Sargon ;  the  ruin 
of  Tyre,  completed  by  Alexander  the  Great;  the 
desltruetion  of  Nineveh,  by  the  Medes ;  the  capture 
and  ruin  of  Babylon,  by  Cyrus  the  Great ;  the  ad- 
vent of  the  Messiah. 


74  The  Bible  and  Its  B.oaks. 


JEREMIAH. 

Subject:    Doom  of   Ju 

dah. 
Class:  Prophecy. 
Writer:  Jeremiah. 


Chronology:   639  to  588 

B.C. 
Prophecies:  Jerusalem, 

Zedekiah,  Captivity, 

Babylon,    Exile    and 

Restoration. 


LAMENTATIONS.— Lament  for  Jerusalem. 


Suhject. — The  book  is  a  mingling  of  prophecy 
and  histor}^  the  former  largely  predominating. 
The  prophecies  relate  chiefly  to  the  doom  of  Jiidah 
and  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  history 
to  the  siege,  captivit}^,  and  downfall  of  the  country. 
The  prophet  lived  under  the  shadow  of  impending 
doom,  with  a  clear  vision  before  him  of  the  con- 
quering hosts  of  the  brilliant  Nebuchadnezzar,  the 
exile  of  the  nation,  the  destruction  of  holy  city  and 
temple.  By  the  Jews  the  book  of  Lamentations 
was  joined  with  the  main  book,  as  its  concluding 
portion.  It  is  a  Hebrew  acrostic  poem  (like 
Psalm  cxix.),  and  was  written  by  Jeremiah  after 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  in  a  series  of  dirges 
over  the  ruin  of  the  city  and  the  sorrows  of  its 
people. 

Writer. — Jeremiah  lived  about  sixty  years,  main- 
ly in  the  last  half  of  the  seventh  century  B.C.,  and 
was  called  to  prophesy  when  a  young  man,  near  the 
middle  of  Josiah's  reign.  For  forty  years  his 
prophetic  career  continued,  amid  intense  sorrow 
and  persecution.     He  survived  the  destruction  of 


Tli.e  Greater  Prophets.  75 

Judah  and  Jerusalem,  is  said  to  have  rescued  and 
buried  the  ark,  became  an  exile  in  Egypt  with  a 
remnant  of  his  brethren,  and  was  there  stoned  to 
death  by  them. 

Chronology. — Jeremiah  began  to  prophesy  sev- 
enty years  after  Isaiah's  death,  his  prophecies  ex- 
tending from  about  629  B.C.  to  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem,  588  B.C. 

Prophecies. — His  most  no't/able  prophecies  are  as 
follow^s:  The  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  the 
Chaldeans;  the  captivity  and  blinding  of  King 
Zedekiah ;  the  date  and  duration  of  the  Babylonian 
captivity ;  the  destruction  of  Babylon. 


EZEKIEL,. 

Subject:  The  Restora- 
tion. 
Class:  Prophecy. 
Writer:  Ezekiel. 


Chronology:  595  to  574 
B.C. 

Prophecies:  Doom  of 
Seven  Nations,  and 
Judah's  Return. 


Subject. — The  theme  of  Ezekiel's  prophecies, 
like  that  of  Jeremiah,  refers  to  Judah  and  her  im- 
pending calamities.  His  prophecy  of  the  restora- 
tion of  Judah,  however,  and  her  deliverance  and 
return  from  Babylon,  was  expanded  to  a  higher  and 
grander  spiritual  restoration  in  the  far  future,  and 
thus  exceeds  the  vision  of  Jeremiah. 

Writer. — Ezekiel  is  called  the  "captive  prophet," 
having  spent  his  entire  ministry  in  captivity.    He 


76  The  Bible  and  Its  Boohs. 

was  a  boy  in  Jerusalem  when  Jeremiah  began  to 
prophesy,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-five  was  car- 
ried a  prisoner  by  Nebuchadnezzar  to  Chebar,  on 
the  river  Euphrates,  two  hundred  miles  north  of 
Babylon.  He  was  contemporary  as  a  prophet  six 
years  with  Jeremiah,  and  twenty-two  years  with 
Daniel.  When  he  was  a  child,  Nineveh,  the  mighty 
x\ssyrian  capital,  was  the  military  center  of  the 
world.  Tyre  vv^as  next,  as  the  greatest  commercial 
center.  Jerusalem,  under  Josiah,  was  again  rich 
and  famous ;  Babylon,  least  of  the  four,  was  rising 
into  renown.  When  he  was  a  man,  Nineveh  was  in 
ruins.  Tyre  had  fallen,  Jerusalem  was  desolated, 
and  Babylon  was  ruler  of  the  world. 

Chronology. — Ezekiel's  prophetic  career  began 
when  he  was  about  thirty  years  old,  and  extended 
from  595  to  574  B.C. 

Prophecies. — These  are  in  three  groups,  and  cen- 
ter upon  Judah  and  Jerusalem.  The  first  group 
was  delivered  before  the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  and 
warned  the  city  against  hope  of  deliverance  from 
Egypt.  The  second  group,  delivered  during  the 
siege,  denounced  God's  judgments  against  the  sev- 
en nations  which  had  aided  the  conquerors  of  Ju- 
dah :  Sidon,  Tyre,  Ammon,  Moab,  Philistia,  Edom, 
Eg3^pt.  The  third  group,  after  the  siege,  predicted 
the  return  of  Judah  from  exile,  and  her  spiritual 
restoration. 


The  Greater  Prophets.  77 


DANIEL. 

Subject:  Messianic  Tri 

iimph. 
Class:  Prophecy. 
Writer:  Daniel. 


Chronology:  607  to  534 
B.C. 

Prophecies:  The  Rise 
of  Four  Enrpires,  and 
Advent  of  Christ. 


Subject. — The  book  is  part  history  and  part 
prophecy,  but  the  former  is  of  small  moment  com- 
pared with  the  latter.  It  is,  indeed,  the  last  and, 
in  some  respects,  the  greatest  of  the  greater  books 
of  prophecy.  The  history  in  the  first  six  chapters 
deals  with  Daniel's  life  and  the  events  of  the  exile 
in  Babylon,  while  the  prophecies  range  in  scope 
from  his  own  time,  through  the  rise  and  fall  of  suc- 
cessive empires,  until  the  final  establishment  and 
universal  triumph  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ. 

Writer. — Daniel  was  a  prince  of  the  royal  blood 
in  his  own  country,  and  became  a  greater  prince  in 
the  land  of  exile.  At  the  age  of  sixteen,  in  the 
third  year  of  King  Jehoiakim  (607  B.C.),  he  was 
carried  by  ISTebuchadnezzar  to  Babylon.  He  began 
his  prophetic  career  two  years  later,  and  continued 
it  throughout  the  seventy  years  of  exile.  He  was 
made  chief  of  iSTebuchadnezzar's  council  while  yet 
a  young  man,  and  was  vicegerent  during  the  king's 
madness.  After  the  capture  of  Babylon  and  death 
of  Belshazzar,  Darius,  the  Mede,  made  Daniel  his 
prime  minister,  in  which  high  place  he  was  after- 
wards confirmed  by  Cyrus.     He  witnessed  the  re- 


78  The  Bible  and  Its  B.oo^]cs. 

turn  of  Judah  from  exile,  and  died  at  Babylon 
when  about  ninety  years  old. 

Chrorwlogy. — The  book  includes  from  607  to 
534  B.C.,  and  is  concurrent  with  the  exile  in  Bab- 
ylon. 

Pro'phecies. — Daniel's  earlier  prophecies  relate  to 
the  successive  rise  and  fall  of  four  great  empires : 
Babylon,  Medo-Persia,  Greece,  and  Home.  -  His 
four  visions  symbolized  the  course  of  these  great 
kingdoms,  ending,  finally,  in  the  advent  and  world- 
wide triumph  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  Daniel 
foretold,  with  exact  detail,  the  date  of  Christ's  ad- 
vent, the  duration  of  his  ministry,  and  his  death. 


V.  THE  LESSER  PROPHETS. 


HOSEA. 


Subject:  Kingdom  of 

Israel. 
Class:  Prophecy. 
Writer:  Hosea. 


Chronology:  785  to  725 
B.C. 

Prophecies:  Doom  of  Is- 
rael, Assyrian  Exile. 


Subject. — What  Jeremiah  was  to  Judah,  Hosea 
was  to  the  northern  kingdom  of  Israel.  That  king- 
dom was  nearing  its  end,  and  had  grown  utterly 
corrupt.  Its  wealth  was  great,  and  its  wickedness 
greater.  The  doom  of  Israel,  its  captivity,  and  ut- 
ter desolation  by  the  Assyrian  hosts,  is  the  one 
theme  of  the  prophet's  warnings. 

Writer. — Little  is  known  of  Hosea.  He  was  a 
prophet  of  the  northern  kingdom,  successor  prob- 
ably to  Amos,  and  contemporary  with  Isaiah  of  the 
kingdom  of  Judah.  He  began  his  career  under 
Jeroboam  II.,  and  continued  prophesying  until 
near  the  captivity  of  Israel,  721  B.C.  He  is 
thought  by  some  writers  to  have  witnessed  that 
captivity. 

Chronology. — The  prophet's  ministry  extended 
from  the  time  of  Jeroboam  in  Israel,  and  Uzziah 
in  Judah,  to  the  reign  of  Hezekiah,  in  whose  sixth 
year  Israel's  captivity  occurred — about  sixty  years, 
from  785  to  725  B.C.    Jeroboam  II.  had  added  to 

(79) 


80  The  Bible  and  Its  Books. 

the  wealth  and  bounds  of  his  kingdom;  but  As- 
syria, under  its  great  warriors  Pul  and  Shalma- 
neser,  was  threatening  destruction  to  its  enemies. 
Israel  at  last,  under  the  Assyrian  Sargon,  was  led 
into  captivity. 

Prophecies. — Hosea  predicted  the  conquest  of 
the  kingdom,  the  desolation  of  the  land,  the  exile 
of  the  people — all  of  which  were  fulfilled  by  the 
Assyrians. 


Subject:    Kingdom    of 

Judah. 
Class:  Prophecy. 
Writer:  Joel. 


JOEL. 

Time:  800  to  760  B.C. 

Prophecies :  Assyrian 
Invasion,  the  King- 
dom of  Christ. 


Subject. — JoeFs  place  in  the  prophetic  line  is 
one  of  the  difficult  problems  for  Bible  chronolo- 
gists,  which  leaves  in  doubt  the  immediate  subject 
of  his  prophecies.  Sonae  place  his  prophecy  as 
early  as  Josiah ;  others  make  him  contemporaneous 
with  the  reign  of  Uzziah.  In  the  latter  case,  it  is 
not  hard  to  apply  his  prophecies.  The  northern 
kingdom  of  Israel  was  nearing  destruction,  and  the 
Assyrian  war  clouds  were  gathering  over  Judah. 
Hence  the  voice  of  the  prophet  is  raised  in  denun- 
ciation of  the  sins  of  the  kingdom  of  Judah,  and  in 
warnings  against  the  invasion  of  the  Assyrians. 

Writer. — Little  is  known  of  Joel.  He  was  an  in- 
habitant of  Jerusalem,  a  prophet  of  the  kingdom 


The  Lesser  Prophets.  81 

of  Judah.  He  belongs  in  the  list  of  direct  Messi- 
anic prophets,  as  is  exhibited  by  his  memorable 
prophecy  of  tlie  "last  days,"  the  outpouring  of  the 
Spirit,  and  the  vision  of  the  judgment. 

Chronology. — Assigning  him  to  the  reign  of  Uz- 
ziah,  his  prophecies  ranged  between  B.C.  800  and 
760.  As  the  book  indicates,  it  was  a  time  of  sore 
drought  and  famine,  together  with  an  invasion  of 
the  dreaded  locusts  of  the  East.  The  prophet  uses 
the  locusts  as  a  symbol  of  the  impending  invasion 
of  the  Assyrians,  and  calls  a  great  fast,  promising 
the  mercy  of  God  upon  national  repentance.  Uz- 
ziah's  reign  was  one  of  prosperity  and  increasing 
Vvdckedness. 

Prophecies. — These  were  directly  in  warning 
against  the  Assyrians;  but  Joel's  visions  range  far 
bc3^ond  his  own  generation,  and  include  the  com- 
ing and  kingdom  of  Christ.  Tjre,  Sidon,  Egypt, 
and  Edom  "shall  be  a  desolation,"  but  "Judah 
shall  abide  forever,  and  Jerusalem  from  genera- 
tion to  generation."  Peter,  on  the  day  of  Pente- 
cost, quotes  and  applies  the  prophecy  of  Joel. 
6 


82  The  Bible  and  Its  Booths. 


AMOS. 

Subject:  Kingdom  of  la 

rael. 
Class:  Prophecy. 
Writer:  Amos. 


Chronology:  787  to  760 
B.C. 

Prophecies:  Captivity 
of  Israel,  Fate  of  Hos- 
tile Nations. 


Subject. — Amos's  prophecy  included  both  north- 
ern and  southern  kingdoms.  His  prophetic  mes- 
sage, addressed  chiefly  to  Israel  and  Samaria,  is 
aimed  also  at  Judah.  Both  kingdoms  had  lapsed 
into  idolatry.  The  golden  calves  were  set  up  at 
Bethel  and  Dan,  and  Gilgal  and  Beersheba  were 
centers  of  idol  worship.  The  prophet  was  sent  to 
Jeroboam  II.  to  denounce  the  licentiousness  of  his 
court  and  kingdom.  His  prophecies  begin  with 
warnings  against  Syria,  Philistia,  Tyre,  Ammon, 
Moab,  Edom,  and  close  with  the  promise  of  res- 
toration of  the  tabernacle  of  David  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  kingdom. 

Writer. — Amos  was  a  contemporary,  in  part,  of 
IlO'Sea  and  Isaiah.  He  was  a  shepherd  and  dresser 
of  sycamore-trees  by  occupation,  and  was  un- 
taught in  the  schools  of  the  prophets.  His  pro- 
phetic career  was  of  short  duration.  Though  rude 
and  unlearned,  as  he  modestly  speaks  of  himself,  a 
great  writer  declares  that  in  "loftiness  of  senti- 
ment, elegance  of  diction,  and  force  of  speech  he  is 
not  one  whit  behind  the  foremost  of  the  Hebrew 
prophets." 


The  Lesser  Prophets.  83 

Chronology. — Amos  received  his  commission 
"two  years  before  the  earthquake,"  he  tells  us, 
which,  Josephus  says,  was  a  mark  of  divine  dis- 
pleasure upon  Uzziah  for  his  usurpation  of  the 
priestly  office.  This  would  place  the  beginning  of 
his  prophecies  about  787  B.C. 

Proyhecies. — These  are  in  four  groups:  the  de- 
nunciation of  neighboring  nations  w^hich  had  aided 
the  enemies  of  God's  people;  the  warnings  against 
Israel's  worship  of  the  golden  calves,  and  God's  in- 
tended judgment;  the  denunciation  of  the  sins  of 
Judah ;  the  vision  of  the  restoration. 


OBADIAH. 

Subject:  Edom. 
Class:  Prophecy. 
Writer:  Obadiah. 
Chronology:  587  B.C. 


Prophecies:  Ruin  of 
Edom,  Restoration  of 
Judah 


Subject. — This  briefest  of  the  prophecies  is  clear 
and  specific  in  its  theme,  which  is  the  denuncia- 
tion of  Edom,  the  inveterate  enemy  of  the  chosen 
nation.  The  Edomites  were  the  powerful  and 
warlike  descendants  of  Esau.  They  were  kinsmen 
and  neighbors  of  the  "house  of  Jacob;"  yet,  with 
unrelenting  enmity,  had  again  and  again  made 
fierce  assault  upon  God's  people,  or  had  joined 
themselves  to  foreign  conquerors.  Finally  their 
cup  of  wrath  was  filled  to  the  brim  by  their  cruel 
<ixultation  over  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  and 


84  The  Bible  and  Its  Bodks. 

their  slaughter  of  the  innocent  Jews,  who  sought 
escape  from  the  captivity  of  Nebuchadnezzar  by 
hiding  themselves  amid  the  mountains  of  Edom. 

Writer. — Little  is  known  of  him  personally,  or 
of  his  place  or  time;  but  the  more  probable  opinion 
is  that  he  was  successor,  if  not  contemporary,  of 
Jeremiah.  That  he  was  prophet'  of  Judah  there  is 
little  question. 

Chronology. — Assuming  what  is  generally  held 
(that  Obadiah  prophesied  after  the  fall  of  Jerusa- 
lem, w^hich  was  completed  in  588  B.C  ),  the  proph- 
e::'y  must  have  followed  close  upon  that  event,  while 
the  memory  of  Edomite  cruelty  was  yet  fresh  in 
the  minds  of  the  conquered  people  of  Judah. 

Prophecies. — These  are  in  two  parts:  the  im- 
pending doom  of  Edom,  and  the  catalogue  of  its 
sins  and  cruelties ;  the  promise  that  Israel  shall  be 
restored,  shall  possess  the  lands  of  Edom  and 
Philistia,  and  shall  rejoice  in  the  reesi'ablishment 
of  "the  kin^-dom  of  the  Lord." 


JONAH. 

Subject:  Nineveh.  I  Chronology:  863  B.C. 

Class:  Prophecy.  Prophecy:     Overthrow 

Writer:  Jonah.  of  Nineveh. 


Subject. — The  destruction  of  Nineveh  is  the 
burden  of  Jonah's  prophecy.  The  book  of  Jonah 
is  both  narrative  and  prophetic.  Its  four  chapters 
recount  the  divine  commission  to  the  prophet,  his 


The  Lesser  Prophets.  85 

attempted  escape  by  sea,  his  warnings  against  the 
great  city,  followed  by  the  repentance  of  its  people. 
The  book  is  one  of  exceeding  interest,  and  bears  in- 
ternal evidence  of  its  truthfulness.  It  is  of  spe- 
cial interest  as  an  Old  Testament  illustration  of 
God's  concern  for  Gentile  as  well  as  Jew.  Our  Lord 
refers  to  the  miracle  of  this  book  on  two  occasions 
(Matt.  xii.  40,  41;  xvi.  4)  as  a  "sign"  of  his  own 
death  and  resurrection.  In  recent  years  some  have 
had  their  "fling"  at  the  truth  of  Jonah's  narrative, 
in  the  face  of  Christ's  acceptance  of  it  as  historic. 

Writer. — Jonah,  the  writer,  was  a  prophet  of  the 
kingdom  of  Israel.  He  is  supposed  by  some  to 
have  been  that  prophet  who  foretold  to  Jeroboam 
II.  the  enlargement  of  his  territory  and  the  pros- 
perity of  his  reign.  (2  Kings  xiv.  25.)  Josephus 
asserts  the  identity.  In  the  time  of  Jonah,  x^ssyria 
w^as  the  great  world-power.  Syria  had  been  made 
tributary,  and  Israel's  kings  also  had  been  com- 
pelled t'o  pay  tribute.  Nineveh  was  the  greatest 
of  the  world's  cities.  Diodorus  says  it  was  sixty 
miles  in  circumference.  It  was  at  this  period  of 
greatness  and  opulence  that  Jonah  visited  it. 

Chronology. — Jonah  was  probably  contempo- 
raneous, in  part,  with  the  last  days  of  Jehu.  It  is 
safe  to  place  the  time  of  the  narrative  and  proph- 
ecy of  the  book  between  862  and  800  B.C.,  thus 
making  Jonah,  as  is  commonly  held,  the  first  of  the 


86  The  Bible  and  Its  Books. 

Hebrew    prophets   whose   prophecies    are   in   the 
canon. 

Prophecies. — One  unvarying  message  came 
from  the  strange  Jewish  messenger  of  God :  "Yet 
forty  days,  and  Nineveh  shall  be  overthrown."  It 
seems  strange  indeed,  to  those  who  forget  the  pow- 
er of  God,  that  a  great  heathen  city  should  so  soon 
repent,  or  repent  at  all,  at  the  coming  of  one  man, 
a  Jew.- 


MICAH. 


Subject:  Israel  and  Ju- 

dah. 
Class:  Prophecy. 
Writer:  Micali. 
Chronology:    750  to  710 

B.C. 


Prophecies:  Assyrian 
Invasion,  Christ's 
Birthplace  and  King- 
dom. 


Subject. — The  book  of  Micah  was  third  in  order 
of  the  minor  prophets  in  the  Septuagint,  but  sixth 
in  our  Bible.  He  was  of  the  kingdom  of  Judah  by 
birth  and  citizenship,  but  was  called  to  prophesy 
to  both  Israel  and  Judah.  It  was  his  mission  to 
warn  the  two  kingdoms  that,  unless  they  repented 
and  turned  to  God  from  their  idolatry,  the  Assyr- 
ians would  overwhelm  and  destroy  them. 

Writer. — Micah  prophesied  during  the  reigns  of 
Jotham,  Ahaz,  and  Hezekiah.  He  was  contempo- 
rary with  Isaiah. 

Chronology. — This  cannot  be  determined  with 
exactness.      The  maximum   of   the   three   reigns 


The  Lesser  Prophets.        '  87 

named  above  was  fifty-nine  j^ears;  the  minimum 
time  that  Micah  could  have  served  under  the  three 
is  sixteen  years.  The  time  of  the  book  is  given  as 
between  750  and  710  B.C.  After  the  death  of 
Jeroboam  II.,  the  northern  kingdom  fell  into  an- 
archy and  idolatry,  under  a  number  of  weak  and 
wicked  kings.  In  Judah,  under  Jotham  and  Ahaz, 
the  kingdom  steadily  declined  into  idolatry. 
Isaiah's  and  Micah's  prophecies  were  heeded  by 
King  Hezekiah,  and  a  reformation  was  begun  dur- 
ing his  long  reign. 

Prophecies. — These  were  predictions  of  the  in- 
vasion of  Israel  by  the  Assyrians,  the  captivity  of 
both  kingdoms  and  their  final  restoration.  The 
most  notable  of  Micah's  prophecies,  however,  is 
found  in  chapter  v.  2,  in  which  he  predicts  the 
place  of  our  Lord's  birth  and  the  glory  of  the 
Messianic  kingdom.  This  prophecy  of  birth  was 
quoted  (in  Matthew)  by  the  Jewish  rulers  before 
Herod  the  Great. 


NAHUM. 


Sul^ect:  Assyria. 
Writer:  Nalium. 
Class:  Prophecy. 


Chronology:  713  B.C. 
Prophecy:     Ruin     of 
Nineveh. 


Subject. — The  book  of  ISTahum  is  a  sequel  to 
that  of  Jonah.  Jonah  had  warned  Xineveh,  and 
the  city  had  repented  of  its  wickedness.  The 
mercy  of  God  had  spared  it  for  many  years  by  rea- 


88  The  Bible  and  Its  Boahs. 

son  of  its  prompt  repentance,  but  by  the  time  of 
Nahum  it  had  lapsed  into  its  old  idolatry  and 
brutality.  A  second  prophet  is  now  commissioned 
to  denounce  its  destruction,  this  time  without  hope 
of  remission. 

Writer. — Little  is  known  of  Nahum  beyond 
what  he  states  in  his  book.  Some  hold  that  he  was 
a  native  of  Galilee,  of  the  village  of  Elkosh;  that 
his  parents  were  probably  carried  away  into  As- 
syrian captivity,  while  the  prophet,  a  young  man, 
escaped  to  Judah,  and  there  prophesied.  Others 
affirm  that  he  was  taken  captive  to  Assyria;  that 
Elkosh  was  the  Alkusch  on  the  banks  of  the  Tigris, 
near  to  Nineveh ;  that  he  prophesied  wholly  in  ex- 
ile, and  that  to  this  day  devout  Jews  visit  the  scene, 
and  point  out  the  "tomb  of  Nahnm." 

Chronology. — Josephus  asserts  that  he  proph- 
esied in  the  reign  of  Jotham,  and  that  his  proph- 
ecies were  "fulfilled  one  hundred  and  fifteen  years 
later,"  when  Nineveh  was  finally  destroyed  by  the 
Medes  and  Chaldeans,  about  B.C.  625.  Nineveh, 
at  this  time,  was  greatest  of  the  world's  cities,  and, 
*nnde,r  Shalmanesor,  Sargon,  and  Sennacherib, 
powerful  and  rapacious.  The  period  justifies  the 
spirit  and  scope  of  Nahum's  prophecies. 

Prophecy. — The  ^n:)urden  of  Nineveh"  was  the 
prophet's  theme.  Nothing  exceeds  his  vivid  pic- 
ture of  the  siege  and  desolation  of  the  great  city. 


The  Lesser  PrGpheU.  89 

How  well  this  was  fulfilled  is  a  matter  of  history. 
For  many  centuries  the  site  of  the  city  was  un- 
known, until  in  our  own  time  Dr.  Layard  un- 
earthed its  ruins  and  confirmed  the  truth  of 
prophecy. 


HABA 

Subject:  Chaldea. 
Writer:  Habakkuk. 
Class:  Prophecy. 
Chronology:   626  to  610 
B.C. 

KKUK. 

Prophecies:    Ruin    of 
Chaldea,  Mercy  to 
Judah. 

Subject. — As  with  Nahum,  Habakkuk  had  a  sin- 
gle purpose :  to  predict  the  destruction  of  fhe  Chal- 
dean empire,  which  had  succeeded  to  the  world- 
wide dominion  long  held  by  the  Assyrians.  By 
might  of  great  armies  and  skilled  generals,  it  was 
becoming  the  scourge  of  other  nations. 

Writer. — Apart  from  tradition,  little  is  known 
of  Habakkuk.  He  was  probably  a  Levite  in  Ju- 
dah, and  his  burial-place  is  pointed  out  near  to 
Jerusalem . 

Chronology. — The  prophet  belongs  unquestion- 
ably to  the  time  just  preceding  the  invasion  by  the 
Chaldeans  and  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  under 
Nebuchadnezzar,  and  after  the  reformation  at- 
tempted by  King  Josiah  had  spent  its  force  and 
Judah  had  again  lapsed  into  idolatry.  His  place 
in  time  is  during  the  last  part  of  the  reign  of  Jo- 


90  The  Bible  and  Its  Boohs. 

siali,  and  jorobably  under  Jehoiakim,  from  B.C. 
636  to  610.  He  was  a  contemporary  of  Jeremiah. 
Prophecies. — Nineveh  was  being  assailed,  or  was 
perhaps  already  destroyed,  by  the  Modes  and  Chal- 
deans. Neclio.  king  of  Egypt,  was  moving  in  tri- 
umph eastward,  while  young  Nebuchadnezzar  was 
winning  fame  as  the  Babylonian  generah  Every 
political  omen  abroad,  and  the  loss  of  divine  favor 
at  home,  pointed  to  the  early  and  long-prophesied 
destruction  of  Judah.  The  prophet  foresees  the 
evil  to  come,  and  warns  his  countrymen  against 
the  destruction  awaiting  them  at  the  hands  of  the 
Chaldeans,  and  ends  by  comforting  them  with  the 
assurance  that  God  in  the  end  would  destroy  their 
oppressors,  restore  Judah  to  the  divine  favor,  and 
bring  her  back  from  exile.  "The  just  shall  live  by 
faith"  is  one  of  the  many  noble  passages  of  the 
book,  and  was  used  by  Paul  as  the  basis  of  his 
N  ew  Testament  teaching. 


ZEPHAIVIAH. 

Subject:  Judahi  I  Prophecies:    Doom  of 

Writer:  Zephaniah.  Judah,  Judah's  Ene- 

Class:  Prophecy.  mies,  Restoration. 

Chronology:  630-610 B.C.  | 


Subject. — The  book  of  Zephaniah  is  a  denunci- 
ation of  the  sins  of  Judah,  and  of  its  destruction 
by  Jehovah,  together  with  the  destruction  of  the 
neighboring  nations  which  had  been  her  oppress- 
ors. 


The  Lesser  Prophets.  91 

l^riter. — Zephaniah  traces  his  own  lineage  from 
King  Hezekiah,  and  was,  therefore,  like  Isaiah,  a 
prophet  of  the  royal  line.  He  was  a  contemporary 
of  Jeremiah  and  a  prophet  of  Judah.  Nothing 
more  is  known  of  him. 

Chro'nology. — The  prophet  evidently  lived  and 
prophesied  during  the  earlier  years  of  King  Jo- 
siah's  reign,  630  to  610  B.C.,  prior  to  the  reforma- 
tion attempted  by  the  king  and  to  the  finding  of 
the  book  of  the  law.  He  speaks  of  the  worship  of 
the  "host  of  heaven  npon  the  house  tops,"  which 
would  have  been  true  of  the  beginning  of  Josiah's 
reign.  Manasseh's  wicked  reign  of  fifty-five  years 
had  greatly  corrupted  the  kingdom  of  Judah,  and 
introduced  the  worship  of  Baal.  Assyria,  always  a 
terror  of  Judah,  was  beginuing  to  totter  before  the 
yet  greater  power  of  Chaldea.  It  was  during  this 
last  struggle  of  the  prophets  against  the  deepening 
wickedness  of  the  nation  that  King  Josiah  and  the 
prophets,  Zephaniah  and  Jeremiah,  sought  to 
bring  back  the  nation  to  repentance. 

Prophecies. — The  prophet  foretells  the  destruc- 
tion of  Judah.  The  oppressors  of  Judah  are  also 
included  in  his  message  of  denunciation — Philis- 
tia,  Moab,  Ammon,  Ethiopia,  and  Nineveh.  The 
book  closes  with  the  promise  of  return  from  cap- 
tivity. 


92  The  Bible  and  Its  BooJcs. 


HAGGAI. 


Subject:  The  Second 

Temple. 
AV liter:  Haggai. 
Class:  Prophecy. 


(hronologyrB.C.  520. 

Prophecies:  The  Sec- 
ond Temple,  Christ's 
Coming. 


Subject. — The  book  of  Haggai  is  the  first  of  the 
prophecies  after  the  Babylonian  exile.  Its  purpose 
was  the  urging  on  of  the  rebuilding  of  the  second 
temple,  which  for  fourteen  years  had  been  sus- 
pended because  of  the  opposition  of  the  Samari- 
tans. 

Writer. — Haggai  was  one  of  the  exiles  from 
Judah  whom  the  decree  of  Cyrus  had  permitted 
to  return  to  their  native  land.  He  was,  in  all  prob- 
abilit}^  an  old  man,  and  had  seen  the  glory  of  Solo- 
mon's temple.  He  was  contemporary  with  Zecha- 
riah.  Cyrus  authorized  the  captive  Jews  to  return 
from  Babylon  and  to  rebuild  their  cities  and  tem- 
ple. The  foundation  of  the  temple  was  at  once 
laid,  but  the  craft  of  enemies  succeeded  in  getting 
a  counter  decree  from  the  successor  of  Cyrus,  and 
work  was  stopped.  After  many  years  of  inactivity. 
Haggai  came  with  his  plea  for  the  completion  of 
the  temple. 

Chronology. — This  is  fixed  by  the  prophet's  own 
words  at  B.C.  520. 

Prophecies. — Haggai  predicts  the  cessation  of 
famine,  the  success  of  Zerubbabel,  and  the  "greater 


The  Lesser  Prophets.  93 

glory  of  the  second  temple,  because  of  Christ's  ap- 
pearance in  it. 


ZECHAKIAH. 

Subject:  Restoration.        Chronology: 
Writer:  Zechariah.             Prophecies: 
Class:  Prophecy.                   toration. 

B.C.    520- 
The    Res- 

Subject. — The  book  of  Zechariah,  like  that  of 
Haggai,  his  contemporary,  deals,  in  part,  with  the 
rebuilding  of  the  temple,  but  takes  on  a  far  wider 
range.  It  sets  before  the  nation  not  only  the  com- 
pletion of  the  temple  of  the  Lord,  but  foretells  the 
restoration  of  Jewish  nation  and  Church,  and  the 
final  coming  of  the  Prince  of  Peace.  The  latter 
part  of  the  book  is  generally  held  to  be  broadly 
Messianic. 

Writer. — Zechariah  was  the  grandson  of  Iddo, 
the  head  of  a  priestly  house  in  the  Jerusalem  col- 
ony, and  was  one  of  the  exiles  whom  Zerubbabel 
had  led  home  from  Bab3don. 

Chronology. — He  began  prophesying  at  the  close 
of  Haggai's  short  career,  and  continued  for  several 
years,  until  after  the  completion  of  the  temple. 
The  date  of  his  prophecy  is  from  B.C.  520  to  487. 
Darius  Hystaspes  was  the  reigning  monarch,  and 
Judah  was  one  of  his  provinces,  ruled  over  by  a 
governor  from  Damascus. 

Prophecy. — The  book  is  in  three  parts,  as  fol- 


94  The  Bible  and  Its  Booths. 

lows:  Part  I.  (chapters  i.-vi.)  narrates  a  series  of 
eight  visions,  symbolic  of  the  future  state  of  the 
Jewish  Church  and  nation.  Part  II.  (chapters 
vii.,  viii.)  points  to  a  time  when  many  nations  shall 
worship  the  true  God  at  Jerusalem.  Part  III. 
(chapters  ix.-xiv.)  is  the  Messianic  portion,  de- 
picting the  future  course  of  the  Jewish  Church, 
and  the  coming  and  kingdom  of  Christ. 


Subject:  The  Advent 
Class:  Prophecy. 
Writer:  Malachi. 


MAI.ACHI. 

Chronology:  About  397 
B.C. 

Prophecies:  The  Com- 
ing of  John  and  Je- 
sus. 


Subject. — The  book  closes  the  post-exilian 
prophecies,  and  is  the  last  voice  of  the  long  line 
of  Hebrew  prophecies,  ranging  through  a  thousand 
years.  The  Jews  called  it  the  "seal,"  because  of 
this  fact.  Four  hundred  years  without  Bible  rec- 
ord were  to  ensue,  after  which  John,  the  herald 
of  Christ,  was  to  prepare  the  "way  of  the  Lord." 
The  book  is  a  connecting  link  between  the  Old  and 
the  New  Testament. 

Writer. — Nothing  is  known  of  the  writer,  Mala- 
chi, but  his  name  and  the  time  of  his  writing.  He 
was  probably  the  national  propheti  under  ISTehe- 
miah,  during  the  latter  part  of  his  rule  as  gov- 
ernor. 

Chronology. — Malachi    prophesied    about    four 


The  Lesser  Prophets.  .      95 

hundred  years  before  Christ.  His  book  point? 
plain  1}^  to  the  time  of  Nehemiah  and  the  social 
and  religious  lapses  of  that  period,  which  fol- 
lowed the  partial  reformation  achieved  by  Ezra. 
The  time  of  the  prophecy  is  given  at  397  B.C.  The 
nation  was  under  Persian  rule,  Artaxerxes  being 
king,  and  a  Jewish  governor,  as  his  deputy,  ad- 
ministered the  affairs  of  the  Jews.  The  second 
temple  was  complete,  and  Ezra  was  dead.  The  na- 
tion was  falling  again  into  grossest  Avickedness, 
led  on  by  the  priests,  and  temple  and  worship  were 
neglected.  In  this  time  of  spiritual  declension 
came  the  prophet's  message. 

Prophecies. — Very  vividly  and  distinctly  the 
prophet  points  to  John  the  Baptist,  and  to  Christ 
as  the  one  to  whom  "all  the  prophets  gave  witness." 


THE  NEW  TESTAMENT. 

I.  The  Four  Gospels. 


Book. 

Writer. 

Time. 

Subject. 

Matthew. 

Matthew. 

38  A.D. 

The  Son  of  David. 

Mark. 

Mark. 

62  A.D. 

The  Son  of  God. 

Luke. 

Luke. 

63  A.D. 

The  Son  of  Man. 

John. 

John. 

80  A.D. 

The  God-Man. 

II.  The  Book  of  Acts. 

The  Acts. 

Luke. 

64  A.D.  IThe  Early  Church. 

III.  The  Pai 

LINE  Epistles. 

Romans. 

57  A  D. 

Justification  by  Faith 

1  Corinthians. 

2  Corinthians. 

57  A.D. 
57  A.D. 

y  Christian  Living. 

Galatians. 

57  AD. 

Christian  Liberty. 

Ephesians. 

62  A.D. 

Christian  Unity. 

Philippians. 

62  A.D. 

Christian  Liberality 

Colossians. 

Paul. 

62  A.D. 

Christ's  Supremacy. 

1  Thessalonians. 

2  Thessalonians. 

53  A.D. 
53  A.D. 

y  Christ's  Coming. 

1  Timothy. 

2  Timothy. 

65  A.D 

66  A  D. 

[christian  Ministry. 

Titus. 

65  A  D. 

Church  Government. 

Philemon. 

62  A  D. 

Christian  Fraternity 

Hebrews. 

66  AD. 

Christ's  Priesthood. 

IV.  The  Gen 

ERAL  Epistles. 

James. 

James. 

61  AD. 

Christian  Works 

1  Peter. 

2  Peter. 

1  Peter           { 

64  AD. 
66  AD. 

1  Christian  Fortitude 

1  John. 

) 

i 

Christian  Assurance 

2  John. 

-  John 

90  A.D.-j 

Christian  Orthodoxy. 

3  John. 

\ 

Christian  Hospitality. 

Jude. 

Jude 

66-70  A  D 

Christian  Loyalty 

y    The  Boob 

[  of  Prophecy. 

Revelation 

John 

96  A  D    1  Christ  and  Antichrist. 

Note.— The  •time  "  above  noted  refers  to  date  of  writing  of  the  book.  Though 
more  nearly  defined  than  Old  Testament  chronology,  New  Testament  dates  are  largely 
conjectural. 


(96) 


THE  FOUR  GOSFEIiS. 


The  above  outline  presents,  in  the  order  of  their  place  in  the 
canon  and  the  date  of  their  publication,  the  four  Gospels,  as  to  au- 
thor, time,  content,  and  intent. 


(9T) 


PART  III —THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  BOOKS. 


I.  THE  FOUR  GOSPELS. 


Subject:    The  Son  of 

David. 
Class:  Historic. 
Writer:  Mattliew. 
Time:  A.D.  38. 


MATTHEW. 

Place:  Chiefly  Galilee. 

Characteristic:  The  Ev- 
idences. 

Purpose:  A  Hebrew 
Gospel. 


Subject. — Matthew's  Gospel,  first  in  order  and 
time  of  the  four,  centers  upon  the  life  of  Christ. 
Its  purpose,  however,  is  not  strictly  biographical  or 
chronological.  It  is  second  to  Luke's  Gospel  in  the 
amount  of  historic  incident,  and  of  the  four  Gos- 
pels pays  least  regard  to  the  order  of  time  in  nar- 
rating events.  It  sets  before  us  Jesus  as  the  son  of 
David,  the  Messiah  of  prophecy;  and  groups  the 
events  and  teachings  of  his  life  in  such  a  way  as 
to  confirm  this  purpose.  Sixt3^-five  citations  from 
Old  Testament  prophets  are  found  in  the  book, 
more  than  in  all  the  other  Gospels,  showing  the 
underlying  plan  of  the  writer. 

Writer. — Matthew  was  a  Hebrew,  living  at  Ca- 
pernaum. He  was  a  publican,  collecting  taxes  at 
the  Sea  of  Galilee.  It  should  be  remembered  that 
publicans,  though  despised  by  Jews  as  servants  of 
(98) 


The  Four  Gospels.  99 

Rome,  were  not  necessarily  of  mean  character. 
Everything  points  to  the  contrary  in  the  case  of 
Matthew.  He  was  chosen  as  one  of  the  Twelve,  and 
tradition  declares  that  ^'he  opened  the  doors  of 
Persia  to  the  gospel,  and  was  stoned  as  a  martyr." 

Time. — Concerning  the  time  of  the  writing  of 
this  book  there  are  widely  divergent  views.  Some 
hold  that  the  book  was  written  as  late  as  A.D.  60, 
or  beyond;  others  place  it  nearer  to  the  death  of 
Christ,  from  A.D.  38  to  43,  within  a  few  years  of 
the  crucifixion;  yet  others  maintain  the  theory 
that  there  vrere  duplicate  Gospels  by  Matthew, 
one  very  early,  in  the  Aramaic,  and  one  much  later, 
in  the  Greek.  That  the  book  was  written  at  the 
earlier  date  is  supported  by  internal  evidence,  and 
by  the  fact  that  it  is  wholly  improbable  that  the 
apostles  would  have  allowed  so  long  a  time  as  thir- 
ty years  to  elapse  before  one  of  them  wrote  an  au- 
thentic account  of  the  Lord's  life. 

Place. — The  Gospels  vary  one  from  the  other 
as  to  the  place  and  period  in  the  life  of  our  Lord 
which  they  emphasize.  Matthew^s  Gospel  might  be 
called  a  Galilean  Gospel,  as  the  larger  part  of  it 
has  to  do  with  the  eight'een  months  of  our  Lord's 
ministry  in  that  province. 

Char oct eristic. — Each  Gospel,  in  its  point  of 
view  and  purpose,  is  distinct  from  the  others.  Mat- 
thew had  in  mind,  evidently,  to  present  Jesus  as 


100  The  Bible  and  Its  Brooks. 

the  fulfillment  of  Old  Testament  prophecy.  To  this 
end  he  groups  events  regardless  of  time,  and  often 
cites  the  prophets.  The  characteristic  of  Matthew, 
therefore,  is  the  historic  and  prophetic  evidences 
concerning  Christ.  Written  within  the  shadow  of 
the  cross,  it  was  to  be  expected  that  this  first  Gos- 
pel would  connect  Christ'^s  death  with  all  that  the 
Old  Testament  had  prefigured  by  type  and  proph- 
ecy concerning  him;  and  would  present  Jesus 
Christ  to  the  Jews  as  their  promised  Saviour, 
through  the  medium  of  a  Hebrew  Gospel. 


MA 

Subject:  The  Son  of 

God. 
Class:  Historic. 
Writer:  Mark. 
Time:  About  63  A. D. 

RK. 

Place:  Chiefly  Galilee. 
Cliaracteristic :       The 

Miracles. 
Purpose:  ARoman 

Gospel. 

Subject. — Mark's  Gospel  is  the  briefest,  and 
deals  only  with  our  Lord's  public  ministry.  It  is 
silent  as  to  his  childhood,  youth,  and  years  of  prep- 
aration. It  is  evident  that  to  Mark  was  given  to 
write  a  Gospel  which  should  present  the  active  min- 
istry of  Jesus  as  the  Son  of  God,  as  the  divine 
Master  over  man,  nature,  and  the  invisible  world. 
Pagan  mythology  abounded  in  fanciful  legends  of 
sons  and  daughters  of  the  gods,  dwelling  among 
human  beings,  and  possessed  of  miraculous  pow- 
ers. Mark  draws  the  graphic  picture  of  the  only 
Son  of  the  one  true  God. 


The  Four  Gospels.  101 

Writer. — Mark,  the  writer,  was  a  young  man, 
probably  the  young  man  described  by  himself  (xiv. 
51).  He  lived  at  Jerusalem,  was  cousin  to  Barna- 
bas, and  was  converted  by  Peter,  who  calls  him  his 
"son."  He  had  opportunity,  as  resident  of  Jerusa- 
lem, to  become  acquainted  with  the  facts  in  the  life 
of  Jesus,  and  his  vivid  narrative  challenges  the 
opinion  of  some  that  he  wrote  his  Gospel  under  the 
direction  of  Peter.  Mark  was  with  Paul  and  Bar- 
nabas on  their  first  tour,  and  later  with  Paul  in 
prison  at  Rome,  and  with  Perer  at  Babylon.  He 
was  probably  the  youngest  New  Testament  writer. 

Time. — The  time  of  the  writing  of  the  Gospel  is 
in  doubt.  Some  place  it  as  earliest  of  the  Gospels, 
which  is  not  likely.  The  larger  opinion  is  that  it 
was  written  at  Rome,  in  the  order  of  its  place  in  the 
canon,  certainly  before  the  destruction  of  Jerusa- 
lem, A.D.  70.  The  date  generally  given  is  about 
A.D.  62. 

Place. — Mark,  like  Matthew,  deals  mainly  with 
the  events  of  our  Lord's  Galilean  ministry,  adding 
to  it  a  brief  sketch  of  the  Perean  period,  which 
Luke  more  fully  presents.  In  common  with  the 
other  Gospel  writers,  he  devotes  much  space  to  the 
closing  events  of  our  Lord's  life  in  and  around 
Jerusalem. 

Characteristic. — The  characteristic  of  Mark's 
Gospel  is  the  miracles  of  Christ.     He  gives  no 


102  The  Bible  and  Its  Boohs. 

great  discourse,  and  few  parables;  but  of  all  the 
Gospel  narratives,  his  is  the  fullest  and  most  vivid 
account  of  the  Lord's  miracles.  His  descriptions 
abound  in  characteristic  touches  wanting  in  the 
others.  Mark's  purpose  was  to  write  a  Gospel  for 
the  Romans,  whose  ideal  was  that  of  power. 
They  cared  little  for  the  merely  religious,  but  were 
moved  by  wonders  and  miracles.  Just  such  a  Gos- 
pel as  would  be  most  impressive  to  these  world 
conquerors,  Mark  wrote.  Hence  he  says  nothing  of 
the  thirty  A^ears  preceding  the  public  ministry  of 
Jesus.  The  power  and  majesty  of  Christ  is  his 
theme,  to  which  he  steadfastly  holds. 


LUKE. 

Subject:    The    Son    of 

Man. 
Class:  Historic. 

Places:  Galilee  and  Pe- 
rea. 

Chara cteristic:  The 
Life. 

Purpose:  A  Greek  Gos- 
pel. 

Writer:  Luke. 
Time:  About  63  A. D. 

Subject. — Luke  writes  of  our  Lord  as  the  "Son 
of  Man,"  from  the  standpoint  of  his  humanity. 
In  simple  narrative,  he  gives  the  events  of  our 
I^ord's  life  in  their  chronological  order.  His 
Gospel  contains  much  the  fullest  material.  Rep- 
resenting the  contents  of  the  Gospels  at  100,  Mark 
has  7  peculiarities  and  93  coincidences;  Matthew 
has  42  peculiarities  and  58  coincidences ;  Luke 
has  59  peculiarities  and  41  coincidences.     Luke 


The  Four  Gospels.  103 

gives  two  sections  of  our  TiOrd's  life  which  are 
lightk  noted  by  the  other  Gospels — his  cliildhood 
and  youth,  and  his  Perean  ministry. 

Writer. — Little  is  known  as  to  Luke.  He  wrote 
two  books,  the  Gospel  and  the  book  of  Acts;  he  was 
a  Gentile,  and  by  occupation  a  physician;  he  was 
a  companion  of  Paul  on  his  second  and  third  tours, 
and  in  prison  with  him  at  Caesarea  and  Rome. 
Prom  the  traditions  of  the  Fathers,  we  learn  that 
he  was  a  Syrian,  a  native  of  Antioch,  a  convert  of 
Paul,  a  painter,  one  of  the  seventy,  that  he  labored 
in  Southern  Europe,  and  suffered  martyrdom  in 
Greece. 

Tirne. — Luke's  Gospel  preceded  his  book  of  Acts. 
(Acts  i.  1.)  Some  hold  that  the  Gospel  must  have 
been  written  at  Caesarea,  while  Luke  w^as  with  Paul 
in  prison  in  that  city.  The  date  commonly  given 
is  A.D.  63,  in  the  belief  that  both  Gospel  and  Acts 
followed  the  first  imprisonment  of  Paul. 

Places. — Luke's  Gospel,  like  those  of  Matthew 
and  Mark,  narrates  the  Galilean  ministry,  but 
Luke  adds  the  Perean  ministry  beyond  the  Jordan, 
near  the  close  of  our  Lord's  life.  This  period,  with 
its  wonderful  series  of  parables,  including  that  of 
the  prodigal  son,  would  be  lost  but  for  Luke. 

Characteristic. — Luke's  special  purpose  seems  to 
be  the  putting  before  us  of  the  simple  story  of  our 
Lord's  life,  in  the  order  in  which  it  was  lived. 


104  The  Bible  and  Its  Books. 

Discourses,  miracles,  parables,  succeed  one  anoth- 
er, without  special  emphasis,  as  in  Matthew  and 
Mark.  This  is  in  accord  with  the  preface  to  his 
Gospel,  in  which  he  says :  "It  seemed  good  tb  me 
also,  having  had  perfect  understanding  of  all 
tilings  from  the  very  first,  to  write  unto  thee  in 
order,  most  excellent  Theophilus/'  His  was  the 
Greek  Gospel,  written  from  the  standpoint  of  a 
cultured  Greek,  free  from  Jewish  prejudice.  It  is 
the  broad  gospel  of  our  Lord's  humanity.  Christ's 
line,  in  Luke,  runs  back  to  Adam.  Our  Lord's  in- 
fancy, his  prayers,  his  sympathy  for  sinners,  his 
social  life,  are  emphasized  by  Luke.  His  Gospel 
has  been  fittingly  called  the  "Gospel  of  the  Gen- 
tiles." 


JOHN. 


Subject:  The  God-Man. 
Class:  Historic. 
Writer:  John  the  Apos- 

ple. 
Time:  About  A.D.  80. 


Place:  Chiefly  Judea. 
Character  i  s  t  i  c  :   The 

Discourses. 
Purpose:  For  All  Chris- 
tians. 


Subject. — It  is  the  God-man  whom  John  spe- 
cially presents.  His  Gospel  opens  with  its  keynote : 
"The  Word  was  with  God,  and  the  Word  was  God." 
The  synoptical  evangelists  had  presented  the 
human  side  of  our  Lord's  life;  but  to  John,  who 
had  penetrated  most  deeply  into  the  spiritual  mys- 
teries of  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  it  was  given  es- 
pecially to  sum  up  the  great  doctrines  which  en- 


The  Four  Gospels.  105 

title  his  Gospel  to  the  name  which  one  of  the  Fa- 
thers gave  it — "the  spiritual  Gospel."  John  gives 
no  parables,  and  only  eight  miracles,  six  of  which 
had  been  omitted  by  the  other  writers.  He  records 
his  own  personal  recollections,  with  peculiar  em- 
phasis. He  saw,  he  knows;  hence  John's  Gospel 
has  been  a  stumbling-block  to  mythical  and  leg- 
endary theorists.  Clement  of  Alexandria  wrote: 
"John,  last  of  all,  perceiving  that  the  more  corpo- 
real truths  were  revealed  in  the  previous  Gospels, 
composed  a  spiritual  Gospel." 

Writer. — John  was  a  fisherman,  but  he  evidently 
belonged  to  a  family  of  means  and  influence,  as  his 
father  employed  servants,  and  he  himself  was 
'Tcnown  to  the  high  priest."  His  mother  was  a  dis- 
ciple of  the  Lord,  and  John  and  his  brother  be- 
came disciples  of  John  the  Baptist,  and  afterwards 
of  Jesus.  He  was  ordained  one  of  the  Twelve,  and 
was  probably  its  youngest  member.  Jesus  named 
him  "Son  of  Thunder,"  from  knowledge  of  his 
temper  and  spirit;  yet  he  became  the  "disciple 
whom  Jesus  lored,"  and  is  altogether  the  most 
unique  figure  of  the  Twelve.  He  was  with  the 
Lord  in  the  judgment  hall  and  at  the  cross,  and  to 
him  was  committed  the  mother  of  Jesus.  He  was 
for  many  years  at  Ephe&us,  in  charge  of  the 
Churches  of  Asia  Minor.  He  was  banished  to 
Patmos  by  Domitian,  and,  returning  to  Ephesus,  as 


106  The  Bible  and  Its  Books. 

last  of  the  apostles,  is  reputed  to  have  died  at  the 
age  of  one  hundred  years. 

Time. — The  Gospel  was  written  long  after  the 
other  three,  and  the  time  is  given  as  between  A.D. 
80  and  A.D.  96.  the  probabilities  being  in  favor  of 
the  earlier  date. 

Place. — John  confines  his  Gospel  chiefly  to  the 
ministry  of  our  Lord  in  the  province  of  Judea. 
The  other  writers  had  already  emphasized  the 
Galilean  and  Perean  ministry  of  Jesus ;  and  John, 
with  their  Gospels  before  him,  deals  rather  with 
the  ministry  of  Judea,  which  they  had  omitted. 

Characteristic. — John  sets  forth  specially  the 
greater  discourses  and  doctrines  of  Jesus,  and  his 
Gospel  is,  therefore,  peculiarly  a  didactic  one. 
Writing  long  after  the  others,  when  there  was  no 
special  need  of  a  Hebrew,  a  Eoman,  and  a  Greek 
Gospel,  John  writes  this  closing,  catholic  Gospel, 
and  designs  it  not  for  a  class  or  nation  only,  but  for 
all  Christians  of  all  time. 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  CHRIST. 


The  above  represents  in  order  the  several  years  of  oiir  Lord's 
ministry,  and  the  chief  events  of  each  year.  The  inner  circle  ex- 
hibits relatively  the  Province  in  which  each  year  was  spent. 


(107) 


THE  BOOK  OP  ACTS. 


A.D.30. 


The  above  presents  in  outline  the  three  divisions  or  periods  in 
the  Book  of  Acts,  with  the  leading  events  of  each  in  their  order  of 
time. 


(108) 


II.  THE  BOOK  OF  ACTS. 


THE  ACTS. 


Subject:   The  Early 
Chiirch. 

Class:  Historic. 

Writer:  Luke. 

Time:  About  A. D.  64. 


Place:  The  Roman  Em- 
pire. 

History:  First  Thirty 
Years. 

Purpose:  The  Holy 
Spirit's  Leadership. 


Subject. — The  book  of  Acts  is  the  sequel  in  time 
and  histor}^  to  the  four  Gospels.    Its  subject  is  the 
early  Church,  beginning  with  the  Ascension,  A.D. 
30,  and   ending   with  the  imprisonment   of   the 
apostle  Paul,  about  60  A.D.,  after  the  gospel  had 
been  planted  in  all  the  great  capitals  of  the  world. 
Three  conditions,  under  Providence,  conspired  to 
the  sw4ft  and  marvelous  advance  of  the  gospel  in 
so  brief  a  time.    These  w^ere :  the  universal  rule  of 
the  Eoman  empire;  the  general  use  of  the  Greek 
language,  which  furnished  a  ready  medium  for 
preaching  and  writing;  the  wide  dissemination  of 
the  Old  Testament  in  the  Jewish  synagogues,  as 
foundation  and  place  for  the  preaching  of  the  new 
faith. 

Writer. — ^Luke  was  the  writer.  In  the  opening 
verses  he  states  the  connection  with  his  "former 
treatise,"  or  Gospel.  Luke,  according  to  fraditioc, 
was  a  convert  of  Paul,  and  between  the  two  there 

(109) 


110  The  Bible  and  Its  Boohs. 

existed  a  peculiarly  strong  affection.  He  was  fel- 
low-traveler with  Paul  on  his  second  and  third 
missionary  tours^  and  with  him  in  prison  at  Csesa- 
rea  and  at  Eome. 

T 17716. — The  last  chapter  of  Acts  leaves  Paul  at 
Rome,  a  prisoner.  Luke  must  hare  written  the 
book  soon  after  the  incidents  recorded  in  this  chap- 
ter. The  time  of  the  book  is  given  as  about  A.D. 
64. 

History. — The  history  in  the  book  covers  the 
first  thirty  years  of  the  Church,  from  the  Ascen- 
sion to  Paul's  first  imprisonment  at  Rome.  Short 
as  was  the  time,  it  was  enough  for  the  extension  of 
the  gospel  throughout  the  Roman  empire,  into 
Asia,  Europe,  and  Africa,  and  for  the  organiza- 
tion of  churches  in  most  of  the  great  cities.  The 
book  emphasizes  the  ministries  of  two  men :  Peter, 
as  leader,  in  the  first  twelve  chapters;  and  Paul, 
in  the  remaining  sixteen  chapters.  Under  Peter, 
the  scene  of  action  is  Palestine,  with  James  and 
John  and  Philip  as  helpers.  The  Jewish-Chris- 
tian Church  is  its  special  theme.  Under  Paul,  the 
book  takes  world-wide  range;  Christianity  throws 
ofi  its  Jewish  fetters  and  becomes  cosmopolitan, 
like  its  great  leader.  Throughout  the  many  and 
thrilling  events  of  the  book  may  be  seen  the  guid- 
ing hand  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  One  has  well  said 
that  the  book  is  not  "so  much  the  acts  of  the  apos- 
tles as  it  is  the  acts  of  the  Holy  Ghost." 


III.  THE  PAULINE  EPISTLES. 


ROMANS. 

Subject:     Justification    Time  and  Place:  A.D.  57, 


by  Faith. 
Class:  Doctrinal. 
Writer:  Paul. 


Corinth. 
History:     The    Church 
at  Rome. 


Subject. — The  book  of  Romans  is  not  only  first 
in  order,  but  easily  foremost  in  ranlv  of  the  doc- 
trinial  books.  Nearly  every  great  doctrine  of 
Christianity  is  here  touched  upon,  but  the  book 
rests  upon  what,  to  Paul,  was  the  fundamental 
truth  of  the  gospel — ^justification  by  faith.  Paul's 
argument  might  be  summed  up  in  three  points : 
salvation  needed  by  all,  salvation  provided  for  all, 
salvation  free  to  all,  Jew  or  Gentile,  on  the  one 
condition  of  faith  in  Jesus  Christ. 

Writer. — Paul  was  doubtless  several  3^ears 
younger  than  our  Lord.  His  birthplace  was  Tar- 
sus, in  Asia  Minor,  famous  for  its  schools.  He 
was  of  pure  Hebrew  blood,  of  the  faith  of  the 
Pharisees,  was  taught  the  trade  of  a  tentmaker, 
was  of  a  wealthy  family,  with  the  rights  of  a  Ro- 
man citizen.  His  conversion  took  place  about  A.D. 
38.  Persecuted  by  the  Jews,  he  fled  to  Arabia  for 
three  years,   receiving  special   revelations  there, 

(111) 


112  The  Bible  and  Its  Books. 

preached  later  at  Tarsus  and  Antioch,  and  then 
began  his  missionary  career. 

Time. — The  book  was  written  from  Corinth,  at 
the  close  of  Paul's  third  missionary  journey,  short- 
ly before  his  arrest  by  the  Jews  at  Jerusalem,  dur- 
ing the  year  A.D.  57. 

History. — Eome  was  the  metropolis  of  the  world. 
Thither  drifted  all  nationalities  and  creeds.  Paul 
had  learned  through  his  friends  of  the  Church  at 
Rome.  It  had  a  mixed  membership  of  Jews  and 
Gentiles,  the  latter  probably  outnumbering  the  for- 
mer, but  dominated  by  them.  There  were  the  usual 
Judaizing  influences  and  leadership,  which  Paul 
everywhere  encountered  in  the  early  Church.  Paul 
longed  to  visit  this  Poman  Church;  and  mean- 
time writes  this  exposition  of  the  great  doctrines  of 
the  gospel,  designed  especially  to  meet  the  needs 
of  a  cosmopolitan  Church.  The  great  purpose  of 
the  book  is  to  set  before  Jewish  and  Gentile  mem- 
bers of  the  Church  that  all  are  alike  before  God; 
that  the  Jew  had  not  exclusive  right  over  the  Gen- 
tile by  covenant  or  descent,  but  that  God  had  pro- 
vided a  way  of  salvation  for  all  who  would  accept 
the  terms  of  the  gospel  by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ. 


The  Pauline  Epistles.  113 


THE  CORINTHIAN  EPISTLES. 

Subject:  Christian  Living. 

Class:  Doctrinal. 

Time  and  Place:  57  A.D. :  Ephesus,  Philippi. 

History:  The  Church  at  Corinth. 


The  First  Epistle. 

Subject. — Corinth  was  the  greatest  and  the  most 
profligate  city  of  Greece,  the  "Vanity  Fair  of  the 
ancient  world.'^  It  stood  on  an  isthmus  between 
two  seas,  and  received  commerce  from  all  coun- 
tries. It  had  great  wealth.  Its  population  was 
mixed.  Religion  was  degraded  into  sensuality  in 
the  great  temple  of  Venus.  The  Corinthian  games 
drew  hither  the  dissolute  of  all  countries.  Juda- 
izing  teachers  came  from  Jerusalem  and  beset  the 
Church.  Grave  questions  affecting  Christian  liv- 
ing, as  well  as  administration  and  doctrine,  sprang 
up  and  split  the  Corinthian  Church  into  factions, 
which  were  warring  against  one  another.  Paul 
was  twice  informed  of  the  conditions,  and  wrote 
the  first  Epistle  in  direct  answer  to  certain  ques- 
tions which  had  risen,  such  as  going  to  law,  mar- 
riage and  celibacy,  the  Lord's  Supper,  the  con- 
duct of  women  in  church,  the  resurrection,  etc. 

Time  and  Place. — The  first  Epistle  was  written 
from  Ephesus,  during  Paul's  third  missionary  tour, 
A.D.  57.  Ephesus  was  the  metropolis  of  Asia 
8 


114  The  Bible  and  Its  Books. 

Minor,  in  which  cit}^  Paul  spent  three  years  of  his 
last  tour. 

History. — Paul  had  come  to  Corinth  from  Ath- 
ens, about  A.D.  51,  on  his  first  tour,  and  with  the 
help  of  his  friends,  Aquila  and  Priscilla,  had  given 
eighteen  months  in  the  city  to  the  organization  of 
this  Church,  which  became  foremost  of  the  Euro- 
pean Churches  founded  by  the  apostle.  After 
Paul,  ApoUos  tlie  Eloquent  ministered  to  it 

The  Second  Epistle. 

Subject. — Paul,  having  received  word  of  the 
salutary  effects  produced  by  his  first  Epistle,  wrote 
his  second,  commending  the  prompt  obedi- 
ence of  the  Corinthians  to  his  apostolic  commands, 
and  comforting  the  Church  in  the  midst  of  the 
trials  it  was  called  to  endure.  The  greater  part  of 
this  second  Epistle  is  devoted  to  a  bold  vindication 
of  the  apostle's  authority.  His  character  and  call 
to  the  ministry  of  an  apostle  had  been  assailed  by 
those  who  would  have  wrought  havoc  with  the 
Church  rather  than  suffer  his  authority  to  prevail ; 
hence  the  strong  words  of  Paul's  self-assertion. 

Time. — The  second  Epistle  was  written  the  same 
year  as  the  first,  from  some  point  in  Macedonia, 
probably  its  chief  city,  Philippi,  which  Paul  had 
visited  on  a  former  tour. 


The  Pauline  Epistles.  115 


GAI.ATIANS. 


Subject:  Christian  Lib- 
erty. 

Time  and  Place:  A.D. 
57,  Corinth. 


Writer:  Paid. 
History:   The  Galatian 
Church. 


Subject. — Galatians,  next  to  Eomans,  is  Paul's 
strongest  doctrinal  book.  Paul  was  by  nature  and 
training  a  controversialist,  and  the  fire  of  con- 
troversy flames  forth  from  this  little  book,  which  is 
set  for  a  defense  of  the  gospel.  Adroit  and  plau- 
sible Jews  were  teaching  Paul's  Galatian  converts 
that  the  law  and  ritual  of  Moses  were  yet  binding 
upon  them,  that  circumcision  was  in  force,  that  the 
righteousness  which  is  of  the  law  was  not  to  be  dis- 
placed by  that  which  comes  of  faith  in  Christ.  The 
effect  of  such  teaching  had  turned  many  away  from 
the  great  Pauline  doctrine  of  justification,  and  the 
Galatian  Church  was  lapsing  into  sensualism  and 
license,  under  the  guise  of  Christian  libert}'.  To 
reclaim  his  converts,  and  to  reaffirm  the  doctrine 
and  scope  of  liberty  in  Christ,  was  Paul's  purpose 
in  this  book. 

Time  and  Place. — The  book  was  written  from 
Corinth  during  Paul's  third  missionary  journey,  in 
the  winter  of  A.D.  57,  probably  near  to  the  close  of 
his  sojourn  in  that  city. 

History. — Tlie  Galatian  Church,  or  Churches, 
had  been  founded  by  Paul  on  his  second  missionary 


116  Tlie  Bible  and  Its  Boohs. 

journey.  Galatia  was  a  Roman  province  of  Asia 
Minor,  settled  chiefly  by  Gauls  who  came  from  the 
North  of  France  in  the  fourth  century  B.C.  In 
the  year  A.D.  52,  after  the  Jerusalem  Council  ad- 
niitted  Gentiles  to  the  privileges  of  Christianity, 
Paul's  route  led  westward  through  Galatia,  as  re- 
corded in  Acts  xvi.  The  book  of  Galatians  itself 
informs  us  of  Paul's  sickness  in  Galatia,  and  of  the 
zeal  displayed  by  his  Gallic  converts.  It  was  then 
that  the  Galatian  Church  was  organized,  and  the 
bodily  suffering  of  the  apostle  endured  at  its  birth 
made  it  all  the  dearer  to  his  heart.  In  the  book  of 
Galatians,  more  than  in  any  other  of  his  writings, 
the  human  yearning  of  Paul  finds  pathetic  ex- 
pression. 


EPHESIANS. 


Subject:  Christian  Uni- 
ty. 
Time  and  Place:  A.D.  62, 

Rome. 


Writer:  Paul. 
History:  Ttie  Epliesian 
Church. 


Subject. — The  book  of  Ephesians  is  meditative 
rather  than  controversial,  exhibiting  Paul  as  a 
lofty  teacher,  with  the  sword  of  controversy  in  its 
sheath.  The  great  doctrine  of  Christian  unity  is 
set  forth  as  its  special  theme ;  first,  unity  with  the 
divine  nature  of  God  through  Christ ;  second,  unity 
of  all  Christians  one  with  another  in  purity  of 
doctrine  and  holiness  of  living.     The  book  is  es- 


The  Pauline  Epistles.  117 

sentially  Gentile  in  scope  and  spirit,  and  illustrates 
the  wide  range  of  the  catholic  apostle. 

Time  and  Place. — Paul  wrote  the  book  from  his 
prison  at  Eonie,  about  A.D.  62,  together  with  three 
other  Epistles  (Philippians,  Colossians,  and  Phile- 
mon), the  four  being  sent  to  the  respective  Church- 
es by  the  hands  of  chosen  messengers  who  had 
brought  the  greetings  of  the  Churches  to  the  im- 
prisoned apostle. 

History. — Ephesus  was  the  metropolis,  the 
political,  commercial,  and  religious  center  of  Asia 
Minor.  What  Eome  was  to  Ital}^,  and  Corinth  to 
Greece,  Ephesus  had  become  to  Asia.  Greek  and 
Asiatic  civilization  commingled,  under  Roman  do- 
minion. Thither  came  many  thousands  each  year 
to  worship  at  the  shrine  of  Diana,  and  to  take  part 
in  the  spectacular  games  of  the  Ephesian  theater. 
The  temple  of  Diana  was  one  of  the  seven  wonders 
of  the  world,  the  Asiatic  "Artemis,"  its  guardian 
deit}^,  ministered  to  by  one  thousand  prostitutes. 
Magic  was  a  favorite  study,  and  paganism  in  its 
grossest  forms  ran  riot.  Yet,  in  three  years,  Paul 
broke  the  power  of  this  infamous  citadel  of  idola- 
try and  sensualism.  The  Church  at  Ephesus  be- 
came the  most  zealous  of  the  Christian  Churches 
of  the  first  centuries,  and  bore  the  appellation  of 
the  "Mother  Church."  Paul  founded  it  on  his  sec- 
ond missionary  tour,  leaving  behind  him  Aquila 


118  The  Bible  and  Its  Boohs. 

and  Priscilla  to  care  for  it.  During  his  third  mis- 
sionary tour,  Paul  gave  this  Church  further  dis- 
tinction by  serving  it  as  pastor  for  three  years,  and 
by  making  it  the  center  of  gospel  influence  for  all 
Asia. 


PHILIPPIANS. 

Subject:     Christian  I  Writer:  Paul. 

TimelJifd  piaee:    a.D.     history:  The  Church  at 
63,  Eome.  |     Philippi. 


Subject. — This  little  book  is  personal  rather  than 
doctrinal.  Like  Philemon,  it  shows  the  human  side 
of  Paul  and  the  grateful  heart  of  the  apostle.  As 
prisoner  at  Eome,  he  became  dependent  upon  the 
kindly  ol^'erings  of  his  friends.  Foremost  among 
these  was  the  Church  at  Philippi,  which  dispatched 
Epaphroditus  with  liberal  gifts  to  Kome  in  aid  of 
its  imprisoned  founder.  Paul  writes  in  return  this 
letter  of  thanks.  As  a  pastoral  "love  letter,"  this 
Epistle,  along  with  the  one  to  Philemon  and  the 
two  to  Timoth}^  is  in  gentle  contrast  with  the  in- 
cisive logic  and  bold  aggressiveness  of  Paul  in  his 
more  familiar  character  as  "defender  of  ihe  faith." 

Time  and  Place. — The  book  was  written  from 
Eome  during  Paul's  first  imprisonment,  about  A.D. 
62. 

History. — Philippi  was  the  chief  city  of  Mace- 
donia, situated  north  of  the  Archipelago,  upon  the 


The  Pauline  Epistles.  119 

great  liigln\'ay  connecting  Asia  and  Europe.  It 
was  a  Roman  colony,  with  peculiar  civic  rights. 
The  Philippian  Church  was  founded  by  Paul  on  his 
second  missionary  journey,  about  A.D.  52.  It  had 
the  distinction  of  being  the  first  Christian  Church 
planted  in  Europe,  as  the  result  of  the  direct  call 
of  Paul  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  Unlike  most  cities 
into  which  Paul  entered,  it  had  no  synagogue, 
which  is  evidence  that  its  population  numbered  few 
Jews.  The  Church  was  begun  at  a  place  of  prayer 
by  the  river's  side,  and  a  woman  was  probably  its 
first  member.  Paul's  miraculous  release  from  per- 
secution in  this  city  is  recounted  in  Acts  xvi. 


COLOSSI  AN  S. 


Subject:  Christ's  Su- 
premacy. 

Time  and  Place:  A.D. 
62,  Rome. 


Writer:  Paul. 
History:  The  Colossian 
Church. 


Subject. — The  divinity  and  headship  of  Christ 
had  been  assailed  in  the  Church  of  Colosse,  and  the 
apostle  comes  to  the  defense  of  the  foundation  doc- 
tTine  of  Christianity.  Epaphras  had  brought  to 
the  apostle  in  his  Poman  prison  intelligence  of  the 
heretical  teaching  among  the  Colossian  converts. 
The  heresies  evidently  included  the  old  gnostic 
doctrine  that  matter  is  evil,  and  that  sin  adheres 
in  the  physical  but  not  in  the  spiritual  constitution 
of  man.    To  this  was  added  a  species  of  angel  wor- 


120  The  Bible  and  lis  Boohs. 

ship  and  denial  of  the  doctrine  of  the  divine  au- 
thority of  Christ.  To  sweep  away  this  worship  of 
angels,  and  to  reenthrone  Christ  as  supreme  Head 
of  the  Church  and  Creator  of  all  things,  Paul 
writes  this  strong  doctrinal  Epistle. 

Time  and  Place. — The  book  was  written  at  Rome 
during  Paul's  first  imprisonment,  about  A.D.  62, 
and  dispatched  by  the  hands  of  Tychicus  and  Ones- 
imus  to  the  Colossian  Church,  with  the  request 
that  it  be  read  also  b}^  the  Church  of  Laodicea,  one 
of  the  "seven  churches  of  Asia,"  afterwards  ad- 
dressed by  the  apostle  John. 

History. — Colosse  was  the  chief  city  of  Phrygia, 
one  of  the  central  provinces  of  Western  Asia.  It 
la}^  along  the  great  Asiatic  route  from  the  east  to 
the  west.  Who  founded  the  Church  of  Colosse  is 
not  known.  Paul  could  not  have  been  far  from  it 
on  his  second  missionary  tour,  but  his  own  word  is 
that  the  Colossians  had  not  seen  his  "face  in  the 
flesh.''  The  probability  is  that  Epaphras  was  the 
founder,  and  that  Paul  had  given  him  aid  during 
Ivis  long  ministry  of  three  years  at  Ephesus.  It 
was  under  his  apostolic  jurisdiction  ;  hence  his  let- 
ter of  authority  and  reproof. 


The  Pauline  Epistles.  121 


THE  THESSAI.ONIAN  EPISTLES. 


Subject:  Christ's  Com- 
ing. 
Writer:  Paul. 


Time  and  Place:  A.D. 

53,  Corinth. 
History:     The    Thessa- 

lonian  Church. 


First  Thessalonians. 

Subject. — Thessalonica  was  the  city  of  Paul's 
second  European  Church.  Driven  from  tlie  city, 
leaving  Silas  behind  to  carry  on  the  work  begun, 
he  later  sent  Timothy  to  the  Church  to  bring  word 
of  its  condition.  Timothy  returned  to  Paul  at 
Corinth,  reporting  the  loyalty  of  the  Church  under 
grave  persecution  and  the  death  of  certain  of  the 
brethren,  whereupon  Paul  wrote  this  letter  com- 
mending their  faithfulness  and  condoling  with 
those  who  mourned  their  dead.  To  comfort  the 
latter,  he  vividly  depicts  the  second  coming  of 
Christ,  and  gives  the  assurance  that  the  dead  will 
not  be  overlooked  by  him  at  his  coming.  This 
prophecy  of  Christ's  second  coming  and  the  resur- 
rection may  properly  be  considered  the  subject  of 
the  book.  The  Thessalonian  Epistles  mark  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Pauline  writings. 

Time  and  Place. — Banished  from  Thessalonica, 
Paul  journeyed  to  Corinth,  and  there  awaited  the 
return  of  Timothy.  The  writing  of  the  first  Epis- 
tle must  have  been  only  a  few  months  after  the 
banishment,  and  the  second  letter  closelv  followed 


122  The  Bible  and  Its  BooTcs. 

ilie  first.    The  date  generally  accepted  is  the  year 
53  A.D. 

History. — On  his  second  missionary  tonr,  Panl 
had  planted  the  Church  of  Thessalonica.  The  city 
had  grown  to  greatness  under  the  power  of  Rome, 
and  its  position  upon  the  Thermaic  Gulf  gave  it  a 
commanding  share  of  the  commerce  of  Western 
Asia  and  Southern  Europe.  Paul's  manual  labor, 
preaching,  and  arraignment  on  a  charge  of  treason 
against  Caesar,  brought  about  by  his  intense  presen- 
tation of  Christ  as  king,  are  narrated  in  Acts  xvii. 
Paul's  preaching  and  nobility  of  spirit  made  last- 
ing impression  here,  and  the  Church  he  founded 
became  greatly  renowned  for  learning,  doctrinal 
purity,  and  power.  Its  members  were  not  without 
fiery  persecutions,  even  in  Paul's  time. 

Second  Thessalonians. 

Subject. — The  first  Epistle  produced  an  effect 
which  was  not  intended.  Paul's  vivid  description 
of  the  Lord's  coming  so  aroused  the  Church  that 
certain  of  the  Thessalonian  Christians  were  swept 
away  into  fanaticism,  and  proclaimed  the  instant 
coming  of  Christ.  Labor  was  abandoned,  and  the 
Church  became  a  community  of  idlers  and  vision- 
ary awaiters  of  marvelous  events,  an  easy  effect 
upon  a  people  among  whom  myths  and  delusions 
abounded.    Paul  therefore  wrote  the  second  Epis- 


The  Pauline  Epistles.  123 

tie  to  correct  the  fanatical  views  which  had  er- 
roneously been  deduced  from  his  first.  In  this 
second  letter  he  rebukes  the  idle  Thessalonians, 
exhorting  them  to  continue  in  the  constancy  and 
faithfulness  with  which  they  began  their  Christian 
course. 


EPISTLES  TO  TIMOTHY. 

Time  and  Place :  AD.  65- 

66 ;  Macedonia,  Rome. 
History:  Paul's  "Son." 


Subject:  The  Christian 

Ministry. 
Writer:  Paul. 


FiiiST  Timothy. 

Subject. — This  is  the  first  of  Paul's  "Pastoral 
Epistles."  To  Timothy^  at  Ephesus,  Paul  address- 
es this  first  Epistle,  solemnly  giving  him  charge  as 
his  chief  helper  in  the  ministry,  enjoining  faithful- 
ness, and  especially  instructing  him  in  the  work  of 
completing  the  organization  and  administering  the 
discipline  of  the  Ephesian  Church,  which,  from  his 
own  long  pastorate  over  it,  and  its  commanding  in- 
fluence and  position,  must  have  been  foremost  in 
Paul's  thought  and  care.  The  central  theme  of  the 
Epistles  is  the  Christian  ministry. 

Time  and  Place. — The  time  of  the  first  Epistle 
is  fixed  as  between  Paul's  first  and  second  Eoman 
imprisonments,  probably  Just  before  his  return  to 
Pome,  the  date  being  about  A.D.  65.  The  place 
from  which  Paul  wrote  was  probably  some  point  in 


124  The  Bible  and  Its  Books. 

Macedonia.  The  second  Epistle,  written  probably 
A.D.  66,  was  sent  from  Eome  during  Paul's  sec- 
ond imprisonment. 

History. — Timothy  was  Paul's  dearest  friend 
and  companion.  Paul  says  of  him,  "I  have  none 
like-minded,"  and  calls  Timothy  his  "son  in  the 
gospel,"  which  is  evidence  that  he  must  have  been 
converted  under  Paul's  preaching  on  the  occasion 
of  the  apostle's  first  tour  through  Asia  Minor,  in 
the  village  of  Lystra,  where,  as  a  boy,  Timothy 
lived.  His  father  was  a  Greek;  his  mother  and 
grandmother  were  devout  Jewesses.  On  Paul's 
second  tour  he  found  Timothy  "well  reported  of 
by  the  brethren,"  adopted  him  as  a  companion, 
kept  him  with  him  on  his  European  tour,  and  after- 
wards m.ade  him  his  helper  during  the  three  years 
at  Ephesus.  After  Paul  was  released  from  the  first 
Roman  imprisonment,  he  sent  Timothy  to  the  great 
Church  of  Ephesus  as  its  pastor,  which  abundantly 
attests  the  high  esteem  in  which  he  was  held  by  the 

apostle. 

Second  Timothy. 

Subject. — This  is  the  last  writing  of  the  apos- 
tle, and  as  such  possesses  a  pathetic  interest.  Writ- 
ten from  his  prison  cell,  with  death  imminent,  ad- 
dressed to  the  young  man  who  had  been  converted 
as  a  boy  by  his  preaching,  and  who  had  rendered 
him  long  and  devoted  service,  and  had  now  grown 


The  Pauline  Epistles.  125 

to  eminence^  nothing  could  be  more  natural  than 
that  the  apostle  should  pour  out  his  fatherly  love 
upon  his  beloved  Timothy.  The  old  preacher  ex- 
horts the  younger  to  •'^stir  up  the  gift  that  is  in 
him;"  the  old  soldier  admonishes  his  successor 
that  he  has  "fought  a  good  fight,"  and  has  "kept 
the  faith." 


TITUS. 


Subject :  Church  G  o  v  ■ 

ernment. 
Writer:  Paul. 


Time  and  Place:  A.D. 
65,  Macedonia. 

History:  Paul's  "Part- 
ner. 


Subject. — Titus  had  been  sent  by  Paul  to  the  is- 
land of  Crete  to  bring  together  the  scattered 
forces  of  Christianity,  organize  them,  and  raise 
the  standards  of  doctrine  and  morals  among  them. 
The  Cretans  were  a  turbulent  race,  half-civilized, 
rioted  for  piracy,  lying,  and  dishonesty,  as  they  are 
until  this  day.  It  was  a  grave  question  of  disci- 
pline that  confronted  Titus,  and  Paul  therefore 
makes  the  matters  of  Church  government  the  chief 
thought  of  this  brief  Epistle.  The  looseness  of 
Cretan  morality  explains  the  severe  allusions  con- 
tained in  the  Epistle. 

Time  and  Place. — Evidence  both  internal  and 
external  points  to  the  same  time  and  place  of  the 
vvTiting  of  this  Epistle  as  in  the  case  of  First  Tim- 
othy.    Paul  probably  Avrote  it  from  some  point  in 


126  The  Bible  and  Its  Books. 

Macedonia,  during  the  year  A.D.  65,  between  his 
first  and  second  Roman  imprisonments. 

History. — The  Papistic  to  Titus  is  evidently  an 
abridgment  of  First  Timotliy.  The  circumstances 
of  both  were  much  the  same.  Titus  was  appointed 
over  the  Church  at  Crete,  as  Timothy  had  been  at 
Ephesus.  Both  were  young  men,  and  both  dear  to 
Paul.  Paul  calls  Titus  "my  partner  and  fellow- 
helper."  Paul  had  converted  Titus  from  pagan- 
ism, had  taken  him  to  the  famous  Jerusalem  coun- 
cil, had  sent  him  to  Corinth  to  collect  money  for 
the  poor  saints  at  Jerusalem,  and  then  set  him  over 
the  Church  at  Crete.  He  is  not  named  in  the  book 
of  Acts,  and  is  usually  called  the  "Evangelist." 
Crete  is  an  island  halfway  east  and  west  in  the 
Mediterranean,  and  was  visited  by  Paul  at  one 
time. 


PHrLEMON. 


Subject:  Christian  Fra- 
ternity. 
Writer:  Paul. 


Time  and  Place:  A.D. 
63,  Rome. 

History:  Paul's  Con- 
vert. 


Subject. — Fraternity  in  Jesus  Christ  is  the 
theme  of  the  tender  little  Epistle  which  bears  the 
name  of  Philemon.  It  was  evidently  a  private  let- 
ter to  the  apostle's  friend  and  former  host,  but  the 
fact  that  Philemon  held  a  Church  "in  his  house" 
accounts  for  its  reception  into  the  canon  by  the  Fa- 
thers, in  addition  to  its  broad  Christian  teaching 


The  Pauline  Epistles.  127 

of  true  brotherhood.  Paul,  as  the  big-hearted  and 
considerate  apostle,  writes  the  letter  to  the  master 
in  behalf  of  a  converted  slave. 

Time  and  Place. — The  Epistle  was  probably 
written  from  Eome  during  Paul's  first  imprison- 
ment, about  the  year  A.D.  62. 

Histonj. — Onosimus  was  the  property  of  Phile- 
mon, of  Colosse,  in  Asia  Minor,  and  had  nin  away 
from  his  master  and  come  to  Rome  at  the  time 
Paul  was  there  preaching  in  "his  own  hired  house." 
He  had  possibly  known  Paul  at  the  home  of  Phile- 
mon, and  heard  him  preach  in  the  house  of  his 
master.  A  runaway  slave  in  Rome,  Onesimus 
heard  of  and  sought  out  Paul,  was  convened  by 
him,  given  transportation  back  to  his  far-away 
home,  bearing  this  pleading  Epistle  to  the  master 
to  receive  him  as  a  brother  begotten,  as  was  Phile- 
mon, of  Paul's  gospel. 


HEBRETVS. 


Subject:    Christ's 

Priesthood. 
Writer:  Paial. 


Time  and   Place:    A.D. 

66,  Rome. 
History:    The    Mother 

Church. 


Subject. — The  central  theme  of  this  great  Epis- 
tle is  set  forth  in  the  opening  verses.  By  elaborate 
argument  Christ  is  presented  as  the  great  High 
Priest,  the  perpetual  Mediator  between  God  and 
man,   the   perfect   fulfillment   of   Old   Testament 


128  The  Bible  and  Its  Books. 

types  and  prophecies.  One  by  one  the  Epistle  lakes 
these  types  and  figures  of  the  Old  Testament,  and 
places  them  in  bold  contrast  with  the  person  and 
gospel  of  Christ  in  the  'New.  Moses,  lawgiver  for 
a  season,  gives  place  to  Jesus,  in  whom  the  law  is 
permanently  vested.  The  Jewish  high  priest  gives 
place  to  the  eternal  High  Priest,  who  offers  himself 
once  for  all  as  an  abiding  sacrifice.  The  Jewish 
Church,  with  cumbrous  ritual,  passes  away,  and  the 
Church  of  Christ  enters  upon  its  enduring  mis- 
sion. 

Writer. — Much  controversy  has  arisen  over  the 
authorship  of  this  Epistle,  some  assigning  it  to 
Barnabas,  others  to  Luke,  others  to  Apollos.  The 
writer  does  not  give  his  name,  as  in  the  case  of 
other  Epistles,  but  it  is  enough  to  say  that  the 
greater  number  of  eminent  Bible  students  have  ac- 
credited the  Epistle  to  Paul.  It  is  essentially 
Pauline  in  style,  in  logical  movement,  in  the  char- 
acteristic temper  of  that  apostle,  and  even  in  the 
turns  of  language  which  mark  Paul's  writings. 

Time  and  Place. — The  Epistle  itself  (chapter 
xiii.)  states  from  whence  it  was  written.  "They  of 
Italy,"  on  the  face  of  it,  indicates  that  Paul  was 
writing  from  Eome,  during  one  or  the  other  of  his 
imprisonments.  It  is  probable  that  the  Epistle 
was  written  during  his  second  Eoman  imprison- 
ment, about  A.D.  65  or  66, 


The  Pauline  Epistles.  129 

History. — While  the  Epistle  within  is  uuad- 
dressed,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  its  title  "To  the 
Hebrews"  is  its  true  one.  Every  line  of  its  argu- 
ment makes  it  plain  that  it  was  designed  for  the 
instruction  and  admonition  of  those  who  were 
Hebrew  in  blood  and  Christian  in  faith.  The  fre- 
quent allusions  to  the  temple  which  was  yet  unde- 
stroyed,  and  to  the  ritual  and  the  sacrifices,  im- 
press upon  one  the  conviction  that  the  Epistle  was 
written  especially  to  the  "Mother  Church'^  af  Je- 
rusalem, and  generally  to  the  Palestinian  He- 
brews, rather  than  to  Hebrews  in  exile,  as  some 
assume.  If  intended  for  the  Hebrews  of  the  dis- 
persion, most  of  whom  had  not  seen  the  temple  or 
taken  part  in  its  worship,  much  of  the  meaning 
of  the  Epistle  would  have  been  lost, 
9 


IV.   THE  GENERAL  EPISTLES. 


Subject:  Christian 

Works. 
Writer:   James  the 

Just. 


JAM£S. 

Time  and  Place:  A.D. 
61,  Jerusalem. 

History:  The  Disper- 
sion. 


Subject. — The  central  thought  of  the  Epistle  of 
James  is  the  necessity  and  relation  of  Christian 
works,  which  contrast  with,  but  do  not  conflict 
with,  the  doctrine  of  faith  as  set  forth  by  Paul. 
Luther,  in  a  moment  of  weakness,  when  pressing 
the  doctrine  of  faith  as  alone  vital  to  salvation, 
called  this  an  ^^epistle  of  straw."  James,  writing 
to  "the  twelve  tribes  scattered  abroad,"  knew  how 
far  many  professing  Christians  had  turned  liberty 
into  license,  and  had  put  under  foot  the  doctrine 
of  works.  The  Epistle  is  a  vindication  of  Chris- 
tian works,  not  as  a  ground  of  salvation,  but  as 
the  test  of  the  genuine  Christian. 

Writer. — It  was  written  by  James  the  Just, 
brother  of  our  Lord,  and  pastor  of  the  mother 
Church  at  Jerusalem.  He  is  that  James  to  whom 
Jesus  appeared,  according  to  the  testimony  of 
Paul,  and  who  made  the  decisive  speech  at  the 
Jerusalem  council  which  admitted  Gentiles  into 
(130) 


The  General  Epistles.  131 

the  Church.  Paul  names  him  as  one  of  the  "pillars 
of  the  Church/^ 

Time  and  Place. — Opinions  vary  as  to  the  time 
of  the  writing  of  the  Epistle,  some  placing  it  as 
early  as  A.D.  45.  The  commentators  are  unani- 
mous in  fixing  its  date  before  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem,  which  occurred  A.D.  70.  The  Epistle 
was  written  from  Jerusalem,  probably  about  A.D. 
61. 

History. — The  Epistle,  with  the  six  succeeding 
ones,  belongs  to  the  class  called  "catholic,''  mean- 
ing thereby  general,  and  intended  for  circulation 
among  all  Christian  believers.  Judged  by  its  con- 
tents, Jam.es  designed  this  Epistle  not  only  for 
Christian  Jews,  but  for  all  who  were  of  Jewish 
blood,  especially  those  who,  under  the  name  of 
"the  Dispersion,"  were  exiles  or  dwellers  in  hea- 
then lands. 


PETER'S    EPISTLES. 


Subject:  Christian  For- 
titude. 
Writer:  Peter. 


Time  and  Place:  A.D. 
64,66;  Babylon,  Rome. 

History:  Nero's  Perse- 
cution. 


First  Epistle. 

Subject. — Peter  addresses  his  first  Epistle  to 
"the  strangers  scattered"  abroad  in  many  lands, 
meaning  evidently  the  Jews  who,  before  the  final 


132  The  Bible  and  Its  Boolvs. 

destruction  of  Jerusalem,  were  already  dwell- 
ers in  all  countries.  As  such  they  were  called  to 
endure  severe  trial  of  their  Christian  faith  and  for- 
titude. To  minister  comfort  and  encouragement 
to  liis  persecuted  brethren  is  the  plain  intent  of 
the  Epistle.  Christ  in  his  suffering  and  exaltation 
is  held  up  before  them  as  their  great  example,  and 
the  joy  of  the  reward  in  prospect  for  the  faithful 
is  set  vividly  in  contrast  with  the  present  affliction. 
The  world  was  fast  breaking  up,  evil  rulers 
abounded,  the  fires  of  persecution  were  being  kin- 
dled. It  was  at  this  juncture  in  the  history  of  the 
early  Church  that  Peter  fulfilled  the  command  of 
his  Master  to  "streno:then  the  brethren." 

Writer. — Peter,  one  of  the  Twelve,  when  called 
was  a  fisherman  at  the  Sea  of  Galilee.  He  was  mar- 
ried, and  his  home  was  at  Capernaum,  where  Jesus 
abode  during  his  Galilean  ministry.  By  reason  of 
his  native  ability,  he  attained  to  a  position  of  pri- 
macy among  the  apostles,  though  not  as  the  Catho- 
lics hold.  He  was  impetuous  and  courageous,  and 
needed  the  sharp  discipline  he  received.  He  was 
foremost  in  the  earlier  years  of  the  Church,  until 
superseded  by  Paul.  He  was  designated  as  the 
"apostle  to  the  circumcision,"  a  place  his  Jewish 
prejudices  fitted  him  for,  and  to  which  his  life 
work  was  circumscribed.     According  to  tradition, 


The  General  Epistles.  133 

lie  died  a  martyr  at  Rome,  at  nearly  the  same  time 
as  Paul. 

Time  and  Place. — Tire  Epistle  was  evidently 
written  from  Babylon,  just  before  the  destruction 
of  Jerusalem,  during  the  persecutions  which  are 
known  to  have  occurred  at  that  time,  about  A.D.  64. 

Second  Epistle. 

Subject. — The  same  atmosphere  of  unrest,  suf- 
fering, and  persecution  is  about  Peter's  second 
Epistle.  The  emperor  Xero  was  entering  upon 
his  fierce  persecution  of  Christians  throughout  the 
Eoman  empire.  Heresies,  false  teachers,  and 
apostates  abounded.  If  the  first  Epistle  was  for 
the  encouragement  of  the  faithful,  the  second  is 
plainly  for  the  sharp  rebuke  of  the  unfaithful 
among  the  professing  disciples  of  the  Lord.  It  is 
the  last  warning  of  Peter,  before  his  martyrdom  at 
Eome,  A.D.  G6. 


JOHN'S  EPISTI^ES. 

ri.  Christian  Assurance. 
Subjects:  K  2.  Christian  Orthodoxy. 
(3.  Christian  Hospitality. 
Writer:  John  the  Apostle. 
Time  and  Place:  About  A.D.  90,  Ephesus. 


First  Epistle. 
Subject. — This  noble  Epistle  came  near  to  the 
close  of  the  first  Christian  century  and  of  the  writ- 
er's long  life.     The  other  apostles  were  dead,  and 


134  The  Bible  and  lis  Boohs. 

three  score  years  had  passed  since  the  death  of  our 
Lord.  Grave  heresies  had  crept  into  the  Church, 
the  most  dangerous  of  which  was  the  gnostic, 
which  held  that  sin  was  in  matter  and  not  in  spirit. 
It  led  to  two  things  in  practice :  asceticism,  or  the 
punishment  of  the  body  as  the  supposed  seat  of  sin ; 
and  licentiousness,  on  the  ground  that  nothing  that 
the  body  could  do  would  taint  the  spirit.  John 
writes  to  all  believers,  reaffirming  the  doctrine  of 
sin,  rebuking  the  dangerous  heresy  of  gnosti- 
cism, and  setting  forth  the  grounds  of  Christian 
assurance  as  obedience,  brotherly  love,  and  the  in- 
dwelling Spirit. 

Time  and  Place. — Commentators  generally 
agree  in  assigning  this  and  the  other  Epistles  of 
John  to  Ephesus,  whither  he  went  after  the  deaths 
of  Paul  and  Peter,  and  to  which  he  returned  from 
his  exile  on  Patmos.  Here  he  was  pastor  for  many 
years,  and  here  it  is  supposed  he  died.  The  time  of 
the  three  Epistles  was  about  A.D.  90. 

Second  Epistle. 
Subject. — This  brief  Epistle  of  a  single  chapter 
was  written  about  the  same  time  as  the  first,  from 
the  same  place,  and  carries  with  it  the  same  pur- 
pose— to  rebuke  the  rising  heresies  of  the  times. 
It  was  addressed  to  the  "elect  lady,"  who  in  all 
probability  was   one  of   John's  disciples,  and  is 


The  General  Epistles.  135 

therefore  strictl}^  a  pastoral  letter,  but  by  author- 
ity of  the  early  Church  was  placed  among  the 
"catholic"  Epistles,  as  designed  for  the  Churches 
generally. 

Third  Epistle. 

Suhject. — The  third  Epistle  is  simply  a  letter  of 
apostolic  commendation  of  a  Christian  gentleman, 
who  had  extended  warm-hearted  hospitality  to 
certain  missionaries  who  had  been  treated  inhos- 
pitably by  an  officer  or  member  of  the  local  Church, 
Diotrephes  by  name.  Old-fashioned  Christian  hos- 
pitality, especially  to  ministers  and  messengers  of 
Christ,  is  a  grace  worthy  of  apostolic  commenda- 
tion in  any  age  of  the  Church. 


Subject:  Christian  Loy- 
alty. 

Writer:  Jude,  the  Apos- 
tle. 


JUDE. 

Time  and  Place:  Prob- 
ably Palestine,  A.D. 
66-70. 


Of  Jude  little  is  known,  and  there  are  only  con- 
tradictory traditions.  The  fragment  contained  in 
this  brief  Epistle  is  all  that  remains  of  his  life. 
His  very  personality  is  in  doubt,  some  affirming, 
others  denying,  that  he  was  one  of  the  Twelve. 
The  probability  is  that  he  is  the  "Judas"  named  in 
John  xiv.  22  as  one  of  his  apostles.  The  Epistle  is 
commonly  supposed  to  have  been  written  in  Pales- 


136  The  Bible  and  Its  Books. 

tine  or  Asia  Minor,  a  little  later  than  those  of 
Peter,  the  spirit  and  surroundings  of  both  being 
much  the  same,  as  judged  by  their  contents.  The 
Epistles  of  both  Peter  and  Jude  are  marked  by 
bold  denunciation  of  a  condition  of  apostasy  and 
corruption,  except  that  Peter  seems  to  point  to  it 
as  impending,  while  Jude  writes  of  it  as  at  hand. 


V.   THE  BOOK  OF  PROPHECY. 


REVKLATION. 


Author:  John  the  Apos- 
tle. 

Time  and  Place:  A.D. 
96,  Patmos. 


Purpose :  To  Comfort 
Church. 

Subject:  Christ  and  An- 
tichrist. 


The  book  of  Revelation  is  the  one  great  book  of 
New  Testament  prophecy,  including  in  its  scope 
the  progress  of  Christianity  from  the  close  of  the 
first  century  to  the  end  of  time.  Much  of  it  is  ob- 
scure, some  of  it  plain.  Some  of  its  prophecies 
have  evidently  been  accomplished,  others  are  now 
fulfilling,  and  others  are  yet  to  be  fulfilled. 
Though  differing  widely  as  to  some  of  the  proph- 
ecies, Bible  students  are  in  substantial  agreement 
as  to  the  purpose  of  the  book.  Like  all  divinely 
inspired  prophecy,  the  book  of  Revelation  is  given 
not  to  the  curious  and  speculative,  but  to  comfort 
the  true  believers  before  and  confirm  their  faith 
after  the  fulfillment.  As  to  the  prophecies  of  the 
book,  there  have  been  three  schools  of  interpreta- 
tion: 

1.  Those  who  hold  that  all  of  the  prophecies  are 
already  fulfilled,  notably  in  the  fall  of  Judaism 
and  the  pagan  empire  of  Rome. 

2.  Those  who  hold  that  the  prophecies  are  yet  to 

(137) 


138  The  Bible  and  Its  Booh. 

be  fulfilled,  near  in  time  to  the  second  coming  of 
our  Lord. 

3.  Those  who  hold  that  the  book  is  a  prophetic 
history  of  the  entire  interval  between  the  first  and 
second  advent,  and  that  the  prophecies  are  now 
fulfilling.    This  view  is  most  generally  held. 

The  author  of  the  Revelation  was  the  apostle 
John,  the  last  living  member  of  the  Twelve. 

The  time  of  the  ^vriting  was  about  A.D.  96,  near 
to  the  close  of  Domitian's  reign. 

The  place  where  the  revelations  Avere  received, 
and  doubtless  written  out,  was  the  island  of  Pat- 
mos,  in  the  JEgean  Sea,  southwest  of  Ephesus,  to 
which  island  John  had  been  exiled  by  the  Roman 
Emperor,  Domitian. 

The  purpose  of  the  book  was  immediately  to  as- 
sure the  hopes  and  comfort  the  hearts  of  the  early 
Church,  and  remotely  to  strengthen  and  confirm 
the  faith  of  Christian  believers  in  the  final  victorv 
of  Jesus  Christ  and  his  Church. 

The  subject  of  the  book  is  chiefly  the  long  and 
indefinite  conflict  between  Christ  and  Antichrist 
— the  powers  of  good  and  of  evil,  as  massed  in  and 
against  the  Christian  Church,  ending  only  when 
"all  things  shall  be  put  under  his  feet."  The  book 
might  well  be  called  the  prophetic  programme  of 
the  Church. 

A  simple  analysis  of  the  book  is  as  follows : 


The  Bool  of  Prophecy.  139 

Chapters  IS. — The  prophetic  messages  of  Christ 
to  the  Seven  Churches  of  Asia  Minor.  These 
prophecies  have  long  since  been  fulfilled. 

Chapters  Jf-11. — The  two  great  cycles  of  seals 
and  trumpets,  representing  by  twice-repeated  sym- 
bol and  picfiire  the  varying  phases  of  the  Messi- 
anic age. 

Chapters  12-22. — The  seven  greater  visions  of 
the  apostle,  outlining  in  narrative  form  the  final 
great  conflicts  between  the  Church  and  her  foes. 


NEW  TESTAMENT  HISTOBT. 


(140) 


TEST  QUESTIONS. 

Explanation.— These  questions  are  intended  to  be  used  by  the 
student  in  testing  his  knowledge  of  this  book.  Full  and  accurate 
answers  to  the  questions  are  evidence  that  the  book  has  been  com- 
prehensively and  faithfully  studied. 

1.  What  is  meant  by  inspiration  of  the  Bible? 

2.  State  the  three  evidences  the  Bible  itself  gives  of  its 

inspiration. 

3.  Define  fully  the  modern  theories  of  inspiration. 

4.  By  what  successive  steps  was  the  Old  Testament 

canon  formed? 

5.  What  were  the  three  tests  applied  to  each  book  of 

the  Bible? 

6.  What  were  the  "disputed  books,"  and  why  were 

they  thus  disputed? 

7.  What  Bible  material  existed  at  the  time  of  Christ? 

8.  Describe  the  oldest  manuscripts  and  versions. 

9.  Describe  particularly  the  Vulgate. 

10.  How  was  the  age  of  manuscripts  determined? 

11.  What  were  Wycliffe's  hindrances  in  translating  the 

Bible? 

12.  Name  five  most  noted   English  Bibles,  and  their 

dates. 

13.  Describe  fully  the  "Authorized  Version." 

14.  By  what  five  points  would  you  establish  the  genu- 

ineness of  the  Bible? 

15.  State  the  writers,  time,  and  subjects  of  the  Old  Tes- 

tament historical  books. 

16.  State  fully  the  facts  given  as  to  the  book  of  Deuter- 

onomy, 

17.  From  what  sources  were  the  books  of  Old  Testament 

history  formed? 

(Ul) 


142  The  Bible  and  Its  Books. 

18.  Define  fully  Ezra's  great  tvork  as  to  the  Bible 

19.  What  are  the  differences   between   the    books  of 

Kings  and  Chronicles? 

20.  Describe  fully  the  book  of  Esther. 

21.  What  is  said  as  to  the  authorship  of  the  Psalms? 
22    What  is  the  difference  in  subject-matter  between 

Psalms  and  Proverbs? 

23.  Give  an  analysis  of  the  book  of  Job. 

24.  State   fully  the  more   notable   prophecies   of    the 

Greater  Prophets. 

25.  Describe  fully  the  book  of  Daniel. 

26.  Of  the  twelve  Lesser  Prophets,   name  those  w^ho 

were  distinctly  Messianic. 

27.  State  fully  what  is  said  as  to  the  book  of  Jonah. 

28.  What  are  the  chief  differences  among  the  four  Gos- 

pels? 

29.  Why  is  it  held  that  Matthew's  is  the  oldest  Gospel? 

30.  What  is  the  characteristic  of  each  Gospel? 

31.  Describe  fully  the  Gospel  of  John. 

32.  What  is  the  time,  subject,  and  purpose  of  the  book 

of  Acts? 

33.  Give  a  list  of  the  subjects  of  Paul's  fourteen  Epis- 

tles. 

34.  Which  of  these  Epistles  are  strongest  as  doctrinal 

books? 

35.  What  was   the   history  of   the  Galatian    and   the 

Roman  Churches? 

36.  In  what  respect  does  James's  book  differ  from,  yet 

agree  with,  Paul's  books? 

37.  Under  what  conditions  did  Peter  write  his  Epistles? 

38.  Why  are  some  Epistles  called  "General?  " 

39.  State  fully  the  subjects  and  purposes  of  the  General 

Epistles. 

40.  Give  fully  the  facts  set  forth  as  to  the  book  of  Reve- 

lation. 


Date  Due 

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BS511.H21 

The  Bible  and  its  books. 


Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


1    1012  00046  4521 


